Xander Harris the other Prototype
by Morgomir
Summary: Xander isn’t the only one to disguise himself as a soldier version of Alexander Harris.
1. Chapter 1

Xander Harris the other Prototype1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game.

The moment Xander's head hit the ground he fell into a deep sleep.

"Hello Xander," said a deep voice.

Xander turned his head and saw himself wearing a grey hoody, a black leather jacket and grey jeans.

"Who are you?"

"Well technically I'm your subconscious and thanks to tonight's events we've gone through some changes."

"What are you talking about? I just dressed up as a soldier version of myself and…" he was still a little stunned when he looked back on his memories.

"But, it wasn't really soldier-version you behind the wheel was it?"

"No, it wasn't. Who was that guy?"

[Flashback]

Alex Mercer stared around in shock. Never had something like this ever happened. He had consumed over two hundred people and creatures. Never had this happened. One second he consumed a lieutenant Harris to use his form as a disguise and the next moment he was standing in a suburban area that definitely wasn't anywhere near New York. He quickly jumped onto the roof of a nearby house to get a better view while changing back to his original form. Through infected-vision he immediately saw that none of these beings were infected by the Blacklight virus. But, not all of them were human. Even with all his memories, the only decision that he could make was that he wouldn't let the innocents get hurt. He quickly jumped into the air and started to glide over the town.

A serpent-like creature was chasing a little girl. He quickly crashed into the creature and while it was on it's side he cut off it's head with his clawed hand. He was splashed with acidic blood that quickly ate at his exposed tissue. He needed to consume someone quickly to heal even with his body starting to neutralize the blood. Seeing a wacko throwing lightning at what clearly looked like a superhero. He leaps for him and consumed him immediately. After he was fully restored he continued to patrol the town.

He saw a girl being attacked by a pirate of all things. He quickly ran towards the pirate and body checked him so hard that he hit the wall behind him and slumped into unconsciousness. But Alex felt rather good for doing it. The girl's friends quickly arrived and started to comfort the girl. It appeared that they were being followed by a group of what they called 'demons'. Getting tired of this night he simply jumped into their midst planning to kill them all in one go with a devastator Tendril attack.

At the last second the redhead in the leather screamed "Don't harm the small ones they're just children."

"Fine" He quickly knocked out the small ones and cut down the larger ones. The last one was a bleached blonde who tried to run away screaming, "I should have stayed in tonight." after only a single warehouse Alex caught up to him climbing down a sewer drain. But before he could give chase a wave of dizziness overtook him and he retook the guise of Alexander Harris.

[End flashback]

"His name was Alex Mercer. He was basically a virus in human form," the mental construct said.

"How is that even possible and how could he be the one in control of soldier-version me's body"

The construct's face took on a sneer before answering. "In his reality the Military tested biological weaponry on a small town filled with volunteers who thought that they were participating in a psychological experiment. Only two people survived. Elizabeth Green and her newborn baby son."

"Let me guess. The military captured them so they could figure out how they did that."

"Yeah, they even started a shadow company called GENTEK to oversee the research and sell any medical applications to the public. Alex worked for them but when he found out he tried to go underground and took a sample of the Blacklight virus with him. When they found him at the train station he released the virus."

"Why would he do that? That's crazy," Xander said incredulously.

"He wanted to take as many with him as he could," his subconscious answered. "Some hours afterwards his corpse woke up in the morgue. The virus had consumed his body and had become sentient. Because it had Alex's memories from before he found out about GENTEK it thought it was Alex and that somebody had changed him."

"What do you mean changed?"

"Shortly after he woke up he got shot by the military and survived without any visible damage. Later he discovered many other abilities and used these to discover his past and save the city of New York from total annihilation. One of these abilities was the ability to gain a person's memories, skills and appearance by consuming them."

"That's disgusting. Are you telling me that this guy ate people for the fun of it?"

"No, he primarily consumed people from the evil Blackwatch operations and marines when he was severely hurt in a fight or scientists who were involved in the project. It was after he saved New York that he was still doing cleanup that he consumed the Alexander Harris of that reality so he could use his appearance as a disguise"

"Alright, so what did you mean when you said 'We've gone through some changes'"

"Well except for two differences we're Alex Mercer. You're the dominant personality and you've got a direct interface to your subconscious. Me"

"So you're telling me I'm a walking human shaped virus with a split personality disorder." Turning away from the embodiment of his subconscious Xander screamed. "It's always me I'm always the universe's butmonkey bad stuff always happens to me, always."

"Look I'm your subconscious and by a quirk of fate and magic we can communicate directly so I don't have to be all cryptic with dreams to get my messages through."

"Oh, what can you do?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"Thanks to our new genetic memory, I can go through the complete memories of over two hundred people. I can also give you specific data about the condition of our body and warn you if we come into contact witch any new substances."

"Ok, that's impressive. But, how do I know you're not evil or going to take over this body?" Dread was filling his voice.

"We both need each other to function. Without me you would lose control over most of our body and without you we'd be stuck in a catatonic state for the rest of eternity"

"Whoa, wait. What do you mean by eternity?"

"We're a walking virus with complete control of our cellular structure. Alex withstood a nuke at close range. Unless they go through some extreme measures they won't be able to kill us."


	2. Chapter 2

2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own in any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

DREAMSCAPE

"Wait a second are we sleeping outside in an ally in Sunnydale at night? Because we have got to get inside and make sure Willow and the others are alright."

"Yes, but don't worry I can take appropriate measures if a vampire would come across us. We should head to the library and if they're not there we'll just have to go home."

With a deep inhale of breath Xander's eyes opened. 'What a weird dream'  
[It wasn't. The quickest way to the library would normally be to glide or fly but our body is still adapting so we'll have to run if you want to catch them at the library]  
'Ok, that's going to be strange' he thought while starting to run.

Without thinking about it he ran the distance in less than three minutes. 'Wait, that was way too fast'  
[You'll just have to get used to it. Alex could run the length of Manhattan island in New York in a little over ten minutes]

"No, way!" realizing he said this out loud while walking into the library made him immediately the center of attention.

"Xanderthereyouarewecouldn'tfindyouandweweresoworried," Willow said in one breath.

"Wow, breath Willow I'm alright," Xander said while gently hugging her.

"Willow get away from him that's not Xander!" Buffy yelled while throwing a stake at Xander. Giles was just coming out of his office and could only look in disbelief as the events unfolded.

Xander quickly moved Willow to the side and felt the stake pierce the flesh of his arm. "Hey I so am me and can I just say auw."

"Buffy how could you attack Xander. We have to…" But that was as far as they got when everyone stared in fascination and horror as Xander pulled out the stake and the wound closed in seconds.

"Ok, I can explain that," Xander quickly said while holding his hands in the air in a placating gesture. "This is all a side effect of whatever happened tonight"

"That's impossible. We haven't been changed by being turned into our costumes," Buffy said while gesturing between herself and Willow. "And there's no way that dressing yourself up as a soldier would make you feel completely inhuman to my Slayer senses."

"Yes, I know its weird but you can ask Willow to confirm that I'm Xander and then I'll explain everything. Alright?" Xander pleaded.

"Ok, Willow just ask IT a question that only Xander would know the answer to," Buffy said while inching closer to the weapons cabinet just in case.

Willow's face took on a sad look and asked, "what does Xander do every Christmas when his family gets together for the holidays?"

Nervously Xander looked around and with a deep sigh he answers, "I sleep outside on the roof to get away from the yelling."

"Oh Xander I'm sorry but we had to be sure," Willow said while looking even sadder look in her eyes after talking about his home life..

"It's alright Will I get it." [I'm just surprised Buffy could sense that we're different.] "Now that we've confirmed that I'm Xander I'll get with the splainy"

As he went through his story of the night the faces of Giles, Buffy and Willow switched between shock and horror. Afterwards they explained their adventures of the night.

"Although that explains how you feel different to Buffy's senses we are still left with the question of why these changes have remained while as far as we can deduce everyone else has returned to normal apart from a few memories and skills" Giles was quickly to add thinking of Buffy's remark about French.

"As far as I can figure it out it comes from the fact that I killed that alien. Which I still can't believe I did," Xander said with a surprised look.

"How does you killing a non-magical futuristic alien monster help you to keep temporary through magic gained powers?" Giles asked.

"Well Giles, because of the acid large parts of my right arm and large areas of skin were literally dissolved. Afterwards my body had to grow back all that tissue and that tissue was completely made from my infected flesh," Xander said while pointing at the mentioned body parts.

"Can I just say gross." Buffy was quick to add

"Although I agree with Buffy that the thought is rather unsavory, I would like to know what powers you now posses?" Giles asked while getting a notepad.

"Well they all stem from control over my cellular structure. All my cells can take on new tasks or qualities in a matter of seconds and my general physical abilities are upgraded to a whole new level. I can transform any part of my body into a weapon, I can turn my skin into armor and I can shape-shift. The problem is that I have no experience in using these abilities and it will take a while to get them under control," Xander said with a far off look going over the information his subconscious provided and the glimpses of memories he had seen.

"Well I'm just glad I don't have to slay you," Buffy said with a relieved tone.

"Me too Buffy but at least I'll be able to help out with the slaying and I might have an idea to speed up the research part of the job," Xander said with his usual lopsided grin returning for the first time since this evening started.

"Oh, and how would you achieve that Xander? I'm rather curious as to what method you would use," Giles said with his most academic tone.

"Well Giles seeing as I have perfect recall, I'll just have to skim through all the books I haven't read yet and I'll be able to remember all the necessary facts."

"Although the idea has merit I do think you've underestimated the amount of books and information."

"I wouldn't worry about that. My subconscious is already working on turning all the memories I have into simple information that I can use. The emotional strain of using the original memories with all the feelings that come with them would simply overwhelm me. The other thing that I should tell you is the fact that I don't need to sleep any more so I have the time to go through the books."

"You will still have to return home even though I am appalled for what I heard of your little Christmas tradition," Giles said with a dark look in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it G-man. They're just like that on the holidays. [No they're not. Mom's nice but she cowers in fear of dad and Tony's an abusive alcoholic.] 'I know but with our enhancements we won't have to fear him and we can protect mom. We should at least try to get her to divorce him'.

The truth of this statement would only become clear later that night.

"So where have you been all-night runt! You need to go get me some more beer," Tony Harris said as soon as Xander was through the door.


	3. Chapter 3

3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions  
[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

"So where have you been all-night runt! You need to go get me some more beer," Tony Harris said as soon as Xander was through the door.

'When will this night end?' "No, I won't Tony. I'm not going to take your crap any longer," Xander said with a cold look at the man that had raised him.

"How dare you talk to me that way!" With those words barely past his lips, Tony ran at Xander with more force than one would expect from a man so fat and drunk. Fuled by anger and alcohol Tony punched Xander in the face. Breaking both his hand and Xander's jaw. Many years later Xander would still remember the look of absolute fear that appeared on Tony's face when all Xander did was steady his jaw and waited those few seconds needed for it to heal.

[I think you should know that the DNA that he left on our jaw doesn't match ours.] This only made Xander grin.

"What are you?" Tony said while cradling his shattered hand. Even with his level of intoxication he realized that this wasn't the same boy who had left earlier. This was something different, something dangerous.

"I'm going to say this once and if you don't listen I'll make sure you'll suffer for it. Leave this house and never return. You'll leave my 'let's hope she is' mom alone and never harm her or me again"

Tony could only look in fear as he ran to the door and left in the night.

[Go rest on the couch. We need to keep watch so he doesn't return and we need to complete our physical changes.] 'I thought you said I didn't need to sleep.' [When we're fully regenerated and the change is complete. I've only finished the basics such as our muscle structure and our nervous system. Large parts of our tissue are still in their original state and after that I still have to go though all those memories.] 'Ok, I get it.'

With that Xander's night finally came to an end.

When Jessica Harris arrived home from her night shift at the hospital she expected to see her husband passed out on the couch, not her son sleeping. She was also startled when he shot up the second she stepped through the door.

"Xander why are you sleeping on the couch and where is your father?" Jessica said with a worried look in her eyes.

"Don't worry mom," he said while hugging her. [DNA match she's our mom]  
"I got into a fight with Tony last night and I made him leave. Let's hope he listens to his common sense for once."

As Jessica broke down crying all she said was "I'm such a bad mother and you're such a good boy."

Seeing as this wasn't the time for further revelations and explanations he simply carried his exhausted mother upstairs and tucked her into her own bed. Soon she was asleep and Xander decided to go for a walk to clear his head. While he was heading to his room to change his clothes the ones he was wearing changed to one of his loud Hawaiian shirts and some jeans.

'How did I do that?' [I did that. You wanted to change the clothing and I thought it might be a good start for you to get used to the shapeshifting.] 'Are you telling me I wasn't actually wearing clothes?' [Of course not. No clothes could stand common wear and tear around us. Its actually an extension of our skin.]

At normal human running speed Xander took off for the Sunnydale junkyard.

[This is a good first exercise] "What jumping over a 20 foot fence!" [Exactly, it's one of the first things Alex did to get used to his new potential. Just try it. You won't get damaged in any way.]

With a burst of inhuman speed and a quick jump Xander soared over the top of the fence.

'We actually had several feet to spare.' [Don't be surprised. Now I'm going to show you how Alex did things and then you'll repeat them. That way they'll be imprinted on our muscle memory and turn our knowledge into experience. Once we get the basics in we can go hunt.] 'I like that idea. So what first? The weapons?" [Let's start simple with defense. We've got the shield and the armor. The shield protects us from nearly everything and allows us to keep our flexibility. The armor boosts our strength but takes away from our speed.]

After shifting to both forms of defense and walking around in them Xander started the next part of his training.

'Weapons now?' [No, something much more important. Our different fields of vision. Although I as any other subconscious continuously check for danger you still have to get used to having different fields of vision. We've even got one more than Alex thanks to that Alien. In total we've got four fields of visions. Normal human vision although much better, thermal vision, Infected vision and echolocation.] 'No, way. What else did I get from that alien?' [Not sure. I'm still deciphering all the genetic material from last night. The resistance to acid was of course the first and now this field of vision the rest will come later.]

"This is so strange." 'Is this how you always see the world?' [Actually I see all of them at the same time.]  
'It's time for us to go. Mom will be waking up and she'll probably be worried if we're not there.'

Over the next two weeks Xander was able to convince Jessica to file for divorce. Apart from school his time was spent training, reading and the occasional night with friends. On one of these nights they were staked out in front of a fresh grave.

"So Xander why do you spend so much time reading? I mean it was totally funny and all when Miss Henderson accused you of cheating on that math-test and you showed her up with college level math. But you must have already read all the schoolbooks, why still read."

"My subconscious won't stop nagging until it knows how to kill every demon that we might face," Xander quickly said with a look of embarrassment.

While Xander answered Buffy, the fledgling surfaced and another vampire jumped on Xander's back and immediately went for his neck. As a reflex he shifted into his armor form.

"Aauw, what the hell," said the vampire with the obviously broken teeth. Meanwhile Buffy staked the fledgling.

"I'll take care of this," Xander said while thrusting his fist through the vampire's chest. Immediately turning it into dust.

"So who's up for the Bronze," said Xander while shifting back to his regular form.


	4. Chapter 4

**4. Chapter Four**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions  
[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'  
.com/wiki/Alex_Mercer good for any information about Alex Mercer

'It just doesn't make sense anymore. The guy looks really sick through infected vision and smells of medication and still he says he's here to finish up his year. He even acts like he's perfectly healthy.' [Yes, our medical knowledge makes it clear that he's very sick.] 'I'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope he doesn't hurt Buffy's feelings.'

Suddenly there was a noise. A blonde female vampire had broken into the library through the sewer access. Xander quickly shifts his right-hand into a Whip Fist and uses it to impale the female vampire through the left shoulder and pull her to him.

"I understand your concern Buffy and its good you called me," Giles said while walking in to a very disturbing scene. "Xander what on earth are you doing!"

"Don't worry G-man I just caught this little vampire breaking in here."

"Hey, that's the vampire Ford said he staked," Buffy said with a look of shock.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you a few questions. If you answer them nicely you get a nice quick staking. If not well you get the idea." Xander emphasized his point by shaking his Whip Fist slightly causing the vampire great pain.

"First question. What happened with Ford earlier?"

"In exchange for letting me go I had to tell him where he could find more vampires," she quickly said.

"Second question. What were you after? Why did you come to the library?"

"I was sent to find the book of Josephus du Lac and return it to Spike," the blond vampire said slowly, obviously in a great deal of pain.

"Oh, dear Lord," Giles says and starts cleaning his glasses.

"Last question. What does Spike want with that book?"

"He thinks it describes a ritual to restore Drusilla's health," the blond says with a clear look of agony.

"Thanks for that." With that he releases her and punches his hand through her chest dusting her immediately.

"I'm so going to have a talk with Ford tomorrow."

"Fine, but promise me you'll come and tell me what's going on," Xander said with a pleading look.

"Alright Xander. Hey who's that?" she said referring to the photo of the raven haired woman lying next to the book Xander had been reading.

"Oh, I was reading up on Angel's old gang," Xander said with a sheepish look. "That's the one the vampire was referring to. She's Drusilla, according to the book she was killed in Prague. Obviously they had it wrong."

"I saw her with Angel the other night," Buffy said with a depressed tone.

By the end of the day Xander had found out about Angel and Willow's little excursion to the Sunsetclub.  
'Ok, I'm getting worried. Its after sundown and Buffy still hasn't shown up and I know she was in class today.' [We better go check out that club]

At top speed it only took about two minutes to get to the fallout/bomb shelter wherein the club was located. As he neared it he saw a Desoto with black windows parked in front of the entrance.

'So that's how vampires get around. I've been curious about how they get from city to city.'

Inside Buffy had Drusilla at stakepoint and commanding Spike to let everyone go. Until she was interrupted by Xander coming through the door who was quickly grabbed by Spike.

"Now, you let Dru go or I kill your little friend," he threatened.

"Oh, don't you remember me from Halloween Spike," Xander said while not showing any fear in the least from being held as hostage.

"Why the bloody hell should I remember…" Before he could finish his question Xander broke his arm and threw him down the stairs.  
Shifting his hands into their claw form he simply said "Now listen to the nice Slayer and let these nice wannabees go."

After all the innocent bystanders were gone, Buffy simply followed Xander's example and threw Drusilla down the stairs and then they both ran out the door and closed it behind them locking the vampires inside.

"You really wanna leave them in there? They'll get out eventually," Xander asked. Unsure of why Buffy didn't want to finish this.

"Yeah, I'm really not in the mood for more fighting we can come back later," Buffy replied.

"Ok, but I'm so stealing their car," Xander said with a smirk.

"Xander that's wrong. You shouldn't steal from people and you can't drive," Buffy said. Not believing what her friend was doing.

"Why not they're evil and they're not people. They're vampires and I so know how to drive," clarifying his point by pointing at his head.

"Mom, I'd like to know who my father is?" Xander asked with a calm and steady voice.

"What do you mean Xander?" A nervous look appearing on Jessica's face.

"I had a DNA test done a little while back. I had my doubts of Tony being my father. So I had the test done," Xander lied to cover up his recent changes.

"I knew this day would come. Now I know this may give you a bad image of me and I want you to know he doesn't even know about you. So, it's not his fault in anyway."

"Don't worry mom I won't think of you any less. I just want to know the truth," Xander reassured her.

"It happened one night in October of 1980. I had started dating Tony a year earlier and recently he'd started to show his darker side and I simply made excuses to make myself believe that they were just a faze. So I went to a club in Los Angeles with some friends to get my mind off of it. Several drinks and several hours later I woke up in bed with a captain Jonathan O'Neill although he preferred being called Jack and a major hangover. We parted company and never saw each other again. One month later I found out I was pregnant, quickly married Tony and eight months later you were born."

"Thank you mom. I just really wanted to know," he hugged her and then went to talk to Willow.

"Willow," Xander said to his friend only resulting in her jumping up from behind her computer.

"Xander don't you scare me like that I nearly had a heart attack," Willow quickly said.

"I found out who my real dad is and I wanted to ask you if you could dig up some information on him," Xander said with a hopeful expression.

"Oh, Xander that's so good what's his name, do I know him," Willow quickly asked before her mind caught up with her mouth. "Of course I wouldn't know him why would you come here if I did."

"Wow, Wills breathe. His name is Jonathan O'Neill he was an air force captain back in 1980. That's all I know," Xander said.

"Well it'll take me a while to track him down with only that information," Willow said while putting in the relevant data into her computer.

"Don't worry Wills it'll be a while before I'm ready to meet him. I just want to know something about him. He can't be any worse than Tony," Xander said with a hopeful tone.

"Alright. So how's the divorce going," Willow said carefully.

"It's going. Somehow Tony got his hands on a lawyer from 'Wolfram and Hart' they have a court date December second."

"How's your mom going to pay for a lawyer?" Willow asked.

"Well I've been stealing from the vampires that I've been slaying. I've got over two thousand dollars and I could sell the car I stole from Spike," Xander said as if stating the obvious.

Willow simply stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Xander you could get in a lot of trouble for that."

"Oh not you too. They're evil and there's nothing wrong with stealing from the bad guys," Xander said with a look of conviction.

"I guess," she said hesitantly. "I better get started on that search."

"Bye Wills, see you tomorrow at school." And with that he jumped through her window.


	5. Chapter 5

**5. Chapter Five**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

.com/wiki/Alex_Mercer good for any information about Alex Mercer

a/n I know it's not exactly the right order.

The Eyghon experience was pretty mild compared to the usual hellmouth events. Sure it was fun to confront Ethan Rayne. The man who turned him in to what he has become and scare him half to death. But after that. All he had to do was hold a possessed corpse locked up in a book cage until it dissolved into goo.

'Possessed corpses aren't that strange, look at vampires. But, this so totally is. Tell me I'm hallucinating or something,' Xander thought. [Although as your subconscious I would be hallucinating too I doubt it.] "You've got to be kidding me?" Xander asked to the sky while staring through what he called his Alienvision which was basically a form of echolocation as he stared at a man who just passed him along the sidewalk. Although the man looked completely human on the outside. On the inside he was made of metal and plastic.

Following the supposed man to his house gave Xander the needed information to have Willow do a quick background check.

"Hey Wills," Xander said calmly as he entered the library. "You're never going to believe what I just saw."

"Oh are our test scores in. What job did they assign you? What did you get? Is it something cool?" Willow said in her usual exuberant way.

"No, Wills not that. You know they said they'd be in tomorrow at the start of career week. But, I saw an android walking down the street," Xander said.

"No way. What was it doing? Didn't anyone notice? I mean even Sunnydale syndrome wouldn't cover that. Would it?" Willow quickly asked.

"Well it doesn't walk like the stereotypes and it has human like skin. Don't worry its not even organic. So not stolen from a living person. I know you've got the other project but I'd really like it if you did a quick search. Something is bugging me about this," Xander said.

"Now this is interesting. Although he could run for citizen of the year. I did find four marriage certificates and no mention of divorce and the first marriage goes back to the 1950's," Willow said after going over Ted Buchanan's private information.

"I say we pay a visit to mister Buchanan," Xander said while getting a dark look.

While Xander and Willow were gone to see Ted, Giles was on a date with Miss Calendar and Buffy was patrolling, Spike finally got his hands on the book. "If ye want something done properly you got ta do it yerself."  
-

"Hello, what can I do for you kids?" Ted said with a cheerful smile.

"We have some questions and were wondering if you could answer them," Xander said with mock cheer.

"What might they be. I'd be glad to help," Ted answered in a cheery tone of voice normally reserved for salesmen and people on drugs.

"How is it that an android like yourself can be married four times and the government not notice?" Xander asked calmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Why won't you children come inside so we can discuss this," Ted said while opening his door fully to let them in.  
As they enter Ted grabs Xander by the neck attempting to kill him by breaking his neck. Xander merely kicks him in the chest. Making him fly back and impact the wall next to the door with enough force to deactivate him.

"While he's out cold I suggest we go look in the basement," Xander said while looking at the carpet.

"How do you know there's a basement," Willow asked surprised.

All he did was point at his eyes and remove the carpet revealing the trapdoor. After only a few minutes they discovered the remains of Ted's wives

"Although we should definitely report this to the cops, we so have got to take the blueprints and any relevant data with us. I don't want to think about those falling into the wrong hands and I have to admit I'm curious how a guy in the 50's could come up with something this advanced," Xander said while pointing at all the equipment.

"Yeah think of what we could learn. If we could change the programming we could use him to help with the slaying," Willow said with the look of a kid at Christmas.  
-

"I finally get my hand on this blasted book and now you tell me we can't read it!" Spike yelled at Dalton.

"Spike," Drusilla said in her dreamy voice. "He can't help you. You need a key to read that book."

"And where would we find this key my pet?" Spike asked his sire.

Drusilla showed her beloved what the stars had shown her through her tarot cards.

"Dalton get over there and get this key," Spike commanded quickly while dancing with his sire.  
-

A tired but happy Willow and Xander arrived at the library the next morning. "So you and this Oz guy were handpicked by…" Xander trailed of when he saw Giles' and Buffy's gloomy faces. "Giles, Buffy what's up I'm sensing bad vibrations?"

"Buffy caught a couple of vampires who were tomb raiding a crypt. And I've come to the conclusion that someone stole the book of Josephus du Lac. The most likely suspect is Spike on both accounts seeing as he's made a previous attempt at the book and somehow he has also figured out that he needs a du Lac cross to decipher the book," Giles said with a tone of impending doom.

"Yeah I read that too. Didn't the text say that all those crosses were destroyed?" Xander said with a pensive look.

"Sadly Buffy and I discovered signs that one was buried with du Lac," Giles answered.  
-

"As long as that Slayer bint and that freaky friend of hers keep attacking us we'll never be able to get you cured." Spike said with a look of pure love directed at Drusilla. Slowly a smile spread across his face. "I think its time we got the big guns involved. The order of Taraka"

"They're coming to my party," Drusilla said indicating the five cards in front of her. A red demon, a millipede, a jaguar, a hawk and two dark eyes surrounded by flames.  
-

The next night Xander was patrolling one of Sunnydale's cemeteries while Buffy was on an outing with Angel. 'Can you tell me if I'm over her or not. I think I am but I'm not sure.' [Well the puppylove is gone but the physical attraction is still… ] And with a sudden feeling of being punched in the face Xander went down and the world went black. Nearly half a minute later he regained consciousness. 'What the hell hit me?' [Ok, we just got shot through the head.] 'How did I survive that with my mind intact?' [Duh, our knowledge is stored on a genetic level. Any damage to the brain is simply fixed and any lost data is reuploaded.]

While this internal conversation occurred Xander was already getting up and scanning the area for where the shot could have come from. A second bullet lodged itself in his shoulder. Now knowing where the shooter was hiding he quickly runs towards the three story building adjacent to the graveyard. Along the way he shifted his right-hand into its shield form q and was hit another two times and stopped another five shots from a shotgun when he was close with his shield.

If he had been in his armor form he would have had minimal damage. But he wasn't and getting shot by a high-powered sniper rifle shooting hollow points causes massive damage. So without even considering what he was doing he consumed his attacker.

'Oh my god, I killed a human being. I'm going to be sent to jail and Buffy is going to try to slay me.' [Calm down. This was in self defense even if it does look weird. I've got access to his memories. He was an assassin of the order of Taraka. They're this secret society of assassins. Long story short Spike hired them to kill Buffy and us.] 'Why do it now and not a month ago?' [Think! He's got the book and a way to decipher it.] 'He's buying time to perform that ritual.'

'So how do we stop these assassins?' [They work in cells. A contact tells the assassins about their target and then when the kill is made pays them their bounty. Sadly they don't know each other so we'll only recognize them though their rings. On the bright side we won't have to worry about money anytime soon.] 'His bank accounts.' [Yep, his car and his house too.] "Sweet" 'Too bad it'll be June when I can get my driver's license.'

And with that Xander collected the assassin's weapons and headed towards his new Pick Up.  
-

The next morning Buffy was explaining about her own encounter with an assassin.

"Why would they be after me?" Buffy asked Willow.

"Because you're the scourge of the underworld," Willow said trying to be helpful.

"Actually, they were hired by Spike to kill Buffy and me," Xander said simply having overheard a part of the conversation while entering the library.

"I got shot in the head by a sniper last night." "Good lord" could be heard from Giles and an "Eep" from Willow "Don't worry. But in the heat of things I consumed him and now know what he knew."

"Why would Spike want you killed too. I mean you've helped out a lot. But, you're still nowhere near as bad as me," Buffy said with almost a tone of jealousy.

"Well Buff it seems that Spike fears me and I have been patrolling almost as much as you have. I just do it when you go to bed."

"Might I ask how you survived being shot in the head?" Asked Giles with morbid curiosity.

"Simply put all that makes me, me is encoded in my DNA. That includes my memories and knowledge," Xander said.

"Now after classes, I think the three of us should focus on the book Spike took. Spike is the only one who can rescind the contract on us and the only way we'll find him is by knowing what he's going to do," Xander proposed.

"I agree with Xander. Now off to class with you. Buffy, please be careful. They have already lost two assassins and they will not desist until they succeed," Giles said with obvious worry in his voice.  
-

"Found it!" Xander said triumphantly.

"That was surprisingly fast. We've only been looking for a couple of hours," Giles said with a tone of disbelief.

"It was in my to read pile. I've gone through about eighty percent of the books here. So all I had to do was look through the books that might contain a ritual to restore a vampire's health and that I haven't read yet," Xander explained.

"Ah yes that might do it. Eighty percent, really?" Giles was amazed at the speed with which Xander had gone through the books.

"All I have to do is flip through the book as fast" seeing Giles' look of fear "and gentle as I can and my subconscious stores it in English in my memories like a database. I've never gotten such good grades." This last part is said with a clear look of joy.  
"Anyway the ritual says that they need the sire of the vampire in question and that it has to happen inside a church on a full moon."  
"This means have to protect Deadboy and the ritual won't happen. I'll go and tell Buffy. If I can find her," Xander said while heading for the door.

"Yes go and tell her immediately. Check her house first," Giles called after him.

"I'm on it." With that he ran out of the library door.  
-

'She's not home.' [No, but go back to the window and take a look through infected vision.] 'Big red blob across the street. Not a good sign. Most likely another assassin.'  
-

"Yes can I help you?" Norman Pfister better known as the bugman said.

"You don't have to fool me. I'm with the order," Xander said as he was showing his stolen Taraka ring while in the form of the sniper.

Seeing the ring the man's smile quickly vanished. "This is my spot. I got here first."

"I don't care." Shifting into his natural form with his claws he simply cuts off the other man's head. All this does is turn the man into thousands of bugs. 'Ok, didn't expect that. Any info on this guy?' [He can only be killed in this form. I would suggest the shield so we can crush the most bugs at a time.]

A half hour and many bug bites later all the bugs were squished. 'How did that guy do that and can we do it too?' [No, he did it by magic and we should stay away from that.] 'Oh yeah.' Xander thought back on all the magical accidents that had happened. [We did get some interesting new DNA] 'Fill me in later.' Xander quickly left the now horror like house of Buffy's neighbor and went into the night to search for Buffy and warn Angel.  
-

By three am he was searching through the warehouse district. 'Where could she be?'

"Mister Harris, I presume," said a gravelly voice.

"I go by Xander. Let me guess you're another assassin. I have to say not very stealthy to just walk up to me," Xander said while eying his opponent carefully. Although he looked like a short human in a trench coat Xander had learned to not let that fool him.

"I like a good fight. That and the killing is why I got in this business and of course the money," the assassin said with a cold voice while smiling. An act that showed more teeth than normally humanly possible.

"So what's your specialty? I don't see any weapons. Please say its hand to hand," Xander said in mock joy.

"Not quite." With that he lost his human guise and turned into a lizard-like creature with bat-like wings and covered in scales. "I'm one quarter dragon."

While quickly shifting into his armor form Xander said the first thing that came to mind. "That must have been a really small dragon."

"You'll pay for that remark," the scaly assassin said right before a jet of fire leapt from his mouth.

Xander quickly jumped at the assassin right under his flames. While standing back up he got his opponent with a serious uppercut. Knocking him ten feet into the air. Where annoyingly he stayed.

"Nice move kid. But you're not the first shape-shifter I've fought and you won't be the last. Any magic you try to use on me will be dissipated by my scales," the assassin said smugly quickly followed by another jet of flame. This time Xander was only able to partially evade the flames and his left leg got caught in them.

'Ok, why doesn't that hurt,' Xander thought with amazement as he watched his badly burnt leg start to heal. [I disconnected you from our nervous system so you can't feel pain,] his subconscious immediately answered. 'Thanks.'

Quickly shifting his hand into his Whip Fist form. Xander throws it at the assassin's wing tearing through the membrane and causing him to plummet to the ground. While he's disoriented Xander gets to his feet and impales the assassin on his claws.

"How did you get through my scales," the now wounded assassin asks with blood starting to flow from his mouth and bloody foam started to come from around the claws. Indicating that his lungs were punctured.

"I don't use magic," Xander simply states.

With his dying strength the assassin sent a last breath of fire at Xander. Because of the close proximity to the assassin's face Xander caught it in the chest. The fire melted straight through his armor and caused severe damage to his flesh. Xander's hands and the rest of his body shifted back to their natural state and he collapsed on the ground with the dead assassin falling on top of him. With no claws keeping the blood in it leaked all over Xander. His body quickly consumed the assassin's blood and tissue to start the healing process.  
-

My first cliffhanger ;-)


	6. Chapter 6

**6. Chapter Six**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

"Oh man I've got to stop waking up in alleys," Xander said out loud. 'How long was I out.' [About four hours. We better get to the school Buffy will most likely be there by now.]

When Xander walked through the library door he was greeted by the scream of "Demon" by a very attractive new girl. Quickly he evaded the kick meant for his head. "What is it with people attacking me lately. Do I have a big bull's eye on my back that nobody has told me about?" He quipped trying to lighten the mood while Giles and Buffy calmed down the enraged girl.

"Xander this is Kendra. She's a vampire slayer. Kendra this is Xander, though he might seem like a demon to your senses he is not," Giles quickly explained.

"Den how was he able to dodge my attack. No human is that fast," Kendra asked. While slightly calmed down she still kept her eyes on Xander.

"Due to the effects of chaos magic he was altered slightly," Giles explains to the slayer.

"My creation lives!" Xander said with a typical mad scientist cackle. Which made everyone stare at him. "What? I gave Buffy CPR which means I made Kendra a vampire slayer and made it possible for there to be two slayers."

This caused Willow to laugh slightly. She understood how her friend couldn't allow an opportunity to make a joke like this to slip away.

"Anyway I dealt with another two assassins last night. One was a bugman waiting for Buffy to come home and the other I encountered in the warehouse district. Apparently he was a quarter dragon," Xander said proudly while also hoping to leave out the part where he got severely burned.

"Good lord." Giles quickly started to clean his glasses. Willow went pale and Kendra showed him a look of respect.

"What is it with you and bugpeople?" Buffy simply stated.

"Hey this was nothing like the mantis lady. He wasn't a giant bug. He was composed of thousands of bugs," Xander quickly defended.

"Anyway miss violent and I were just going to check on Angel. She says she locked him up in room with a view facing east," Buffy said with a clear tone of anger and annoyance.

"I'll come with you," Xander quickly said.

After a small beating Willy first told them that he'd saved Angel and that Angel had gone underground. But when Xander started to talk about the possible location of the ritual Spike was planning it became obvious that Willy had delivered Angel to Spike. It took a lot to restrain Buffy after that. To save his life Willy declared that the ritual would be taking place in the abandoned church on Brendan street. After that they quickly returned to school so Buffy wouldn't incur the wrath of the Troll of Sunnydale High.

"We'll go there after school and stop the ritual. We don't know where they might be keeping him so we'll confront them where we know they'll be," Xander said in an attempt to cheer Buffy up.

"Alright. I better go to that law enforcement presentation," Buffy said dejectedly.

"Listen up and answer when I call your name. Buffy Summers?" the female cop said while looking up from her clipboard.

Buffy raises her hand. The policewoman quickly drew her gun and started to shoot. But Buffy grabbed her arms and made her shoot the ceiling. Xander hearing the gunshot came running into the room heading for the assassin formally known as Patrice. Before he could reach her Oz got shot protecting Willow. She managed to shoot Xander twice in the abdomen but they didn't even penetrate before he body checked her. Making her hit the wall behind her and drop her gun. She quickly regained her senses and got to her feet.

Meanwhile grabbing her spare gun which was kicked out of her hand by Kendra. Before the slayers or Xander can take further action Principal Snyder barges up to the gang. "What are you delinquents doing! How dare you attack an officer of the law I'll have you expelled for this." This is followed by his dumbest act to date. Approaching an armed assassin. "I'm dreadfully sorry. You're well within your right to arrest…" Seeing her chance she grabbed the disgruntled principal and holds her knife to his throat.

"This is between you and us let him go," Xander said trying to save Snyder with a great deal of reluctance.

The assassin sees her three opponents start to circle her. With only her knife left she knows she can't win. So, she cuts Snyder's throat with her blade shoves him towards her opponents and makes a break for the door.

Xander using the knowledge of a field medic and several doctors applies pressure to the wound, "somebody call for an ambulance," he said to everyone before turning to Kendra, "Kendra I suggest you hide in the library. You entered the county illegally so its best you don't appear in a police report."

Seconds later Snyder started to convulse. "Oh crap she must have poisoned the blade. There's no way I can do anything."

That was the end of principal Snyder. The local paper even declared him a hero for standing up to a crazy person threatening his students. How they received this obviously flawed information was unknown.  
Several minutes later the ambulance arrived and declared him dead. Within the next half hour the police arrived and started to question all the people who had been present at the time of the event. Some had already started to suppress their memories of the event. But luckily they were able to corroborate Xander and Buffy's story that the woman who pretended to be a police officer shot first and that nobody provoked her.

The sun had already set when the officers finally let them leave.

"We have to leave now! We're already late and we need to save Angel,." Buffy screamed. With that Kendra, Xander and Buffy ran towards the church on Brendan street. Leaving Giles and Willow behind to deal with the remaining cops.

Xander shifted into his armor form and hit the church door with his full strength. The doors burst inwards with such force that the two vampires guarding it were crushed and dusted immediately by the doors.

"Ok, I'll get miss likes to shoot. You guys stop the ritual," Xander said calmly.

Remembering how Xander had withstood her bullets earlier that day Patrice had come prepared. "Nice costume. You better hope it can withstand some real bullets." Thinking it was simply a costume. She takes out her .45 filled with armor-piercing rounds and immediately unloads five shots into Xander's center of mass. She stared in amazement when the bullets didn't pierce his armor. She quickly jumped aside only for Xander to punch straight through her chest and spine. Killing her instantly.

Meanwhile the two slayers dealt with the remaining minion and started to attack Spike. "Buffy save Angel I will fend off Spike," Kendra said. Listening to the black girl Buffy heads for Angel and rips out the dagger connecting Angel and Drusilla stopping the ritual. Spike seeing that his paramour is in danger grabs Drusilla and sets the church on fire. Buffy quickly grabs the censer Spike used for the incantation and uses it to knock him against the wall. The impact causes a part of the church to collapse on top of Spike and Drusilla.

"Everybody out now. Let's go," Buffy said while supporting Angel.

"I want to thank you for the plane ticket," Kendra said showing unusual levels of shyness.

"It's my pleasure. After all I got some serious money now from Sniperguy's bank account." Leaving Kendra for some girl talk with her fellow slayer he went to talk to Giles.

"Hey G-man any news on who's going to replace Snyder?" Xander said with a clear smile on his face at calling Giles by his nickname.

"Would you please desist with that infernal nickname," Giles answered in the usual way.

"Fine. But who's it going to be?" Xander continued with his curiosity showing.

"As a matter of fact the school board has offered me the job," Giles said with a clear tone of pride.

"That would be great. It'd be a incredible improvement," Xander said with his smile broadening.

"Why thank you. I do hope I do the job justice. It will also make my job as Buffy's watcher much easier," Giles said.


	7. Chapter 7

**7. Chapter Seven**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

I want to thank Riniko and AlecMcDowell for mentioning the spelling and grammar mistakes in chapter six. This chapter is mainly a filler to tie up some loose ends and to explain a few things.  
-

It was the second of December when Xander arrived home and found his mother crying in the living room. "I take it that the court date didn't go so well."

"Tony got the house and half of our savings. Its nearly all the money I was able to save from my job. I don't know how we're going to make it," Jessica said dejectedly in between sobs.

Xander saw only one way of alleviating her fears about financial security."Mom I've been keeping something from you." He wasn't going to give away Buffy's secret so he started at the events of Halloween and went on from there. Only mentioning his friends as helping. Showing several of his abilities to make any feelings of disbelief Jessica might have had disappear.  
"So now I've got access to the oversees bank accounts of two assassins and a couple of houses they had. I know this looks like a bad situation but we don't have to worry about money and you don't have to worry about my safety, I swear mom its all going to be fine."  
"I'm going to need some time to get used to this. But I want you to know that even though you've gone through some changes you're still my son and we'll work this out," Jessica said gently while giving her son a small smile and a hug. "I think it's been a long and emotionally draining day I think I'm just going to have a sandwich and go to bed."

"You do that mom. I'll just go and see Willow," Xander said, nearly crying from joy at his mother's acceptance.  
-

'Did I do the right thing?' [One of her major concerns was about how she would afford a place to live and keep herself and her child in house and home. Taking those fears away was the best course of action. We did good.]

Walking towards Willow's house a few streets down Xander started to think back about the eventful week he'd just had. Soon though he came upon something that didn't make sense.

'Now why the hell did the bullets of those assassins do so much damage? I thought Alex could take like a lot more damage than that and still keep going.' [Alex could. We're about forty percent there.] 'How the hell are we only at forty percent. How did Alex get to his level so fast and we're not even halfway after a month?' [It's mainly because of our diet. Alex consumed a large number of people mostly his enemies giving him enough biomass to achieve his level of power. We on the other hand only eat three meals a day, just enough to keep us going.] 'I'm so not going to start eating large numbers of people just to get stronger.' [We need biomass, that can come from any living thing not just people. I'd suggest cows.] 'How many?' [At least one every three days for three weeks and lots of rest. It's nearly the holidays so we'll do it then.]

With that little internal monologue over Xander reached Willow's house and simply jumped for her window and entered.  
Willow jumped up in fright. But quickly calmed down when she saw it was Xander. "Xander I told you not to scare me like that."

"Yeah, sorry Wills. I just told my mom about everything in Sunnydale." Seeing the look in Willows eyes he quickly added. "I didn't tell her anything about Buffy, just about me and the supernatural."

"Why? Did she see you using your powers?"

"No, when I got home to make an appearance she was crying. For some reason Tony got the house and half of mom's savings. She was so worried about how we were going to survive, I just had to make it clear that we'd be alright."

"So how did she take it?"

"Pretty good. I did a few basic shapeshifting examples to convince her completely. Overall I'd say she's taking it rather well. So how are our projects going?" Xander quickly said, trying to get his mind off the subject of his mom or Tony.

Willow saw what he was trying to achieve but let him. "Well you went through all the notes and schematics on Ted and from what you told me I've been working on a completely new AI. I'm nearly there," Willow said in her usual tone when it came to computers and new things to learn.  
-

The following weeks were filled with exams and helping Buffy to study. Xander even took over most of Buffy's patrols so she could get the time to study. On the twenty second of December the entire gang came together to help Xander and his mother to move in to their new home. They had simply bought the house across the street from Buffy. Thanks to the low housing costs in Sunnydale Xander barely had to chip in to afford it.

"Hi I'm Joyce, Buffy's mom. Your son has been a great friend to my daughter since we moved here and it's nice to finally meet a parent of one of my daughter's friends," Joyce said while both parents watched the teens moving Jessica and Xander's possessions from Xander's pick up which Giles had driven for the occasion while Jessica used the Desoto her son had given her.

"Yes Xander has told me a lot about you. I also want to thank you for all the times Xander has stayed over for dinner," Jessica said in a good-natured way.

"It was pleasure to have him over. Speaking of dinner it would be my pleasure if you two would join us for Christmas dinner. Willow was going to join us anyway with her parents out of town. They seem to be out of town a lot," Joyce added with a deep look.  
-

Buffy and Willow noticed that their best male friend was acting rather sluggishly as of late and were starting to get worried. "Hey Xander you look exhausted. What's wrong?"

"Well Buff I've been eating an entire cow every three days for the past week. My body's getting a complete overhaul to get me to my full potential. Makes me feel like I've got indigestion."

The look of disgust on both girls' faces was clear. "How can you still look that thin?" Buffy asked in amazement.

"The process makes me burn through a lot of calories," Xander said as if it was only natural. He emphasized this statement by shrugging his shoulders.  
-

"Merry Christmas Joyce," Jessica and Xander greeted Joyce.

"Thanks Jessica, welcome Xander," Joyce greeted her first dinner guests since moving to Sunnydale.

"It's our pleasure Joyce. It's been a long time since I was invited to a dinner," Jessica said while handing over a bottle of wine to the hostess.  
"We'll save this for later," Joyce said with a playful look. "Oh Xander you can put your presents under the tree. We were planning on exchanging gifts after dinner."

After a delicious meal at which Xander had eaten an almost inhuman amount of food. The sight of which had both impressed and disgusted some of his female dinner companions. The group exchanged presents. Xander had bought cell phones for the adults and for his two female friends.

"Xander this is far too much. This must have cost a fortune," Joyce said in amazement.

Xander simply used the cover story he and the girls had come up with. "Don't worry misses S I recently inherited some money."

"All right but I don't want you to throw away your money left and right."

Willow simply gave him a large box wrapped in bright red paper with a yellow bow. He opened it quickly and a smile spread across his face. "Oh Twinkies. Thanks Wills."  
"Here Xander I got you this," Buffy said while giving her present.

Unwrapping his present Xander saw a bunch of CD's

"I've never had to buy a present for a guy friend before so I went with music."

"Its great Buffy. Thanks and thank you Willow." Giving both of his girls hugs.  
-

In a warehouse not too far from all this Christmas cheer a grumpy platinum blonde sat in a wheelchair. "Spike, you need to eat so you can be big and strong again," Drusilla said while holding a man's neck near Spike's face.

"Thanks pet. I swear I'll get that bloody slayer and that freak. Stupid Tarakans asking for more money."


	8. Chapter 8

**8. Chapter Eight**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions. Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM.

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought' and more as an internal dialogue  
Anything not according to canon is intentional.

"You called Willow," Xander said gently as he entered Willow's room after knocking at her window.

"It's about the search, the one for your dad. First I thought about giving it to you at Christmas but I didn't know who you told about it."

"Ok lay it on me."

"He's a colonel now. He was born in Chicago and raised in Minnesota. According to what I could find he has a cabin up there. He lives and works in Colorado Springs Colorado. He works at NORAD for a project called Deep Space Radar Telemetry. Here's all the information," Willow quickly summerised. She gave Xander a plain brown envelope. " I don't wana go any deeper into their mainframe when its not necessary. They have some serious firewalls."

"You don't have to hack their system Wills. I'm just glad with the basic information. Thanks for all the help," Xander said quietly while staring at the envelope.

* * *

Like all things winter break came to an end and school restarted. One of the first things Xander had to do was go to the principal's office.  
"You wanted to see me G-man," Xander said casually.

"If you don't stop using that infernal nickname I will give you detention so help me god," Giles said while showing a little of the old Ripper.

"Wow , Giles I get it. But what was it you wanted to see me about," Xander said to change the subject.

"Seeing as I am now the headmaster of the school I cannot spend adequate time doing my other duties as librarian. Seeing as you have intimate knowledge of all the current books in the library and I trust you around the more occult ones. I was wondering if you would be interested in helping during your free periods and during the lunchperiods? Of course this will count for extra credit and it would give you an actual reason for being in the school after hours and during weekends," Giles explained.

Xander became pensive. "Well I've got no problem with helping out but I think Willow and I might have a better solution."

"And what might that be? I am sad to say that apart from Willow and you I don't trust anyone around the books. Though miss Chase has stated an interest lately and I trust Buffy in her task neither of them is suited for the job. Miss Calendar already has her teaching responsibilities," Giles said thinking of all the possible candidates to help out.

"Now I know you don't get along with new technology all too well but hear me out," Xander said with a slight smile.

"I'm listening." Giles not even pretending that the comment was untrue.

"A little while before the untimely death of your predecessor I encountered an android that was built in the 50's," Xander's tone making it clear that he didn't care that much about Snyder's demise.

"Dear Lord," Giles quickly exclaimed already reaching for his glasses. He might not be up to date on all the new technologies. But, even he knew the implications and meaning of an android.

"Yes an actual AI controlled human-like robot. Long story short he turned out to be a homicidal android and we deactivated him. With the help of its creator's notes Willow and I were able to create a new AI that adheres to the three laws and to make sure we added a loyalty subroutine that supersedes them so he would follow our commands. Originally we thought to use him to help with the slayage. During the day he might as well be the school librarian. I would have to talk this over with Willow but I think she'll agree."

"Though I trust Willow and you on those infernal machines I would prefer it if miss Calendar went over this AI before I'll allow it into the school and at the first sign of something wrong I want your word that it will be taken care of," Giles stated, making it clear that he had reservations on the subject.

"You have my word G-… eh Giles," Xander agreed to the terms set forth.

"Alright off to class with you," Giles said in a friendly tone.

* * *

Willow quickly agreed to the idea of using Ted 2.0 to help out in the library and by the end of the week Hal Rain started work in the library. Of course Buffy had to be notified in advance so she wouldn't attack him or be surprised by a stranger working in the library. She was also rather upset with Xander and Willow for not telling her about their find but quickly agreed that she had no interests in the fields of computers and robotics.

* * *

"Now there are several negative consequences to having sex," Mr Whitmore kept blathering on.

'I doubt this guy has ever had any.' This thought caused Xander to start laughing which in turn made everyone stare at him.

"Yes mister Harris why don't you give us one of these consequences," Mr Whitmore said it that classical annoyed teacher tone of voice.

"Uh, STD's," Xander quickly said.

"Yes that is a major one." Mr Whitmore agreed, his tone showing he was surprised that Xander was actually paying attention. Turning back to the class he asked, "What else?"

"Unwanted Pregnancy."

"Yes miss Rosenberg unwanted pregnancy is the major consequence of sexual activity. As discussed last week I present your offspring." Unveiling the eggs on his desk which Xander noticed for the first time.

[Those are not chicken eggs.] Xander quickly went to the front of the classroom, took one of the eggs and threw it on the ground. Making it look like an accident. Inside there was what appeared to be the lovechild of a lizard and a scorpion.

Seeing this the rest of the students apart from Willow and Cordelia fled the classroom. Mr Whitmore got a rather angry look and attacked. Xander simply held him with his arms behind his back and noticed a lump on his back. Pulling the man's sweater up he was confronted by a slightly larger version of the creature from the egg.

"Eew that's disgusting." Was Cordelia's overall conclusion.

After removing the creature from the teacher's spine Xander cut it in half. This was surprisingly the moment that Buffy walked in on, attracted as she was by the sound of screams. "What's going on?"

"As far as I can tell mind control bugs. Following their description I'd say baby Bezoars. Which means there has to be a mommy around."

"How the hell do you know that dweeb," Cordelia said with a look of surprise.

"I read," Xander said with an indignant tone.

"Yeah right," Cordelia said with a tone that made it clear she didn't believe him.

Ignoring Cordelia Xander focused on Mr Whitmore. "Mr Whitmore what do you remember? Where did you get the eggs?"

"The basement in the basement." The man kept repeating with a far away stare .

"Willow you go tell Giles while Buffy and I go check the basement. Cordelia…" Seeing her look. "Do whatever you want to do."

* * *

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

Xander quickly looked around switching between several fields of vision. When he reached alienvision he noticed something. "Behind those boxes. There's a hole."

"I'm going to need a bigger weapon," Buffy said after seeing parts of the writhing mass that was the mother Bezoar through one of the holes.

"Don't worry I've got just the thing for the job." Xander said while shifting his hand into a giant four foot spike. After a few good stabs into the main mass the Bezoar was dead and Xander was covered in dark blood. "I really need a shower."

Later that night Xander and Buffy encountered two cowboy vampires and dusted them in less than a minute. "That takes care of those clowns," Buffy said while referring to her earlier encounter.

* * *

In Colorado Springs, Colorado Jack O'Neill received his mail. He had been off duty for the past month. Because of a gate malfunction he and his XO had ended up in Antarctica. This little side trip got him a broken leg and ribs combined with internal bleeding. Through the quick thinking of his best friend Daniel the SGC was able to save the both of them and they got a backup gate out of it.

Sifting through the letters, bills and junk he found a letter addressed to him from California.

_Dear Colonel O'Neill_

_I don't know how to put this gently so I'll just come out and say it. If you are the Jonathan J. O'Neill that slept with Jessica Stamper during the month of October 1980 then you are my biological father. I don't expect anything from you. I'm not out to get your money and I don't need one of your kidneys or a bone marrow transplant. Any further contact is up to you though I would like to meet at least once. I'm also willing to undergo a paternity test at any place of your choosing._

_Yours truly, Alexander (call me Xander) Harris 1631 Revello Drive Sunnydale California._

"Well this is unexpected," Jack said numbly.

* * *

"I think we should invite Mrs. Summers to Buffy's party. I mean its just not right for my mom to be there and for Buffy's not to be there."

"Yeah but she's baking the cake, her son is renting the Bronze for the party and Angel is going to be there." Willow counted on her fingers.

"Its high time. She's already met him once. She already suspects that Angel is Buffy's boyfriend. She knows that he's older than Buffy. Besides I think my mom and her are starting to become good friends and this could cause some problems when she finds out," Xander countered.

"Fine. But if this goes wrong you're taking the blame mister," Willow pouted.

* * *

"Welcome Mrs. Summers. You know everybody here except maybe Oz who's Willow's date and of course you remember Angel Buffy's history tutor," Xander said as Joyce came into the Bronze.

"Hello Mrs. Summers nice to see you again." Angel said while on the inside he was thinking, 'I'm going to kill that punk.'

A little later Joyce's features took on a fierce look as she came a little closer to Angel. "Get this straight. I know and I don't approve of you dating my daughter but you've both behaved yourselves and I'm willing to drop the issue because its Buffy's birthday. She's 17 now and needs to learn to make her own decisions and live with the consequences. But so help you god if you hurt my daughter I will track you down and put you down like a rabid dog."

"I understand Mrs. Summers and if I hurt her. I'm not saying I'm planning to, I won't try to stop you," Angel answered quickly in response to the threat. 'So that's where Buffy got her spirit from.'

"I told you it would work out," Xander said in hushed tones to Willow who was holding hands with Oz, across the room from Joyce and Angel from where they'd seen the confrontation.

At that moment Buffy and a vampire crashed through the window. Getting back to her feet, Buffy quickly kicks the vampire and grabs a few drumsticks and uses them to stake the vampire. Turning it to dust right in front of her mom.

"I spoke too soon," Xander said. While his thoughts were, 'I'm so dead.'

In the background near the cake Cordelia screamed, "surprise." Making everybody stare at her and releasing Joyce from her shock.

"What's going on?" Buffy asks in a completely bewildered tone.

"Surprise party," Giles answered with a sheepish look.

"Did anyone else see that guy turn to dust?" Was Oz's blasé way of getting back to the main point of attention.

While Xander and Willow filled him in on the supernatural Joyce turned to her daughter. "Buffy, what happened to that man? How could he just turn to dust? What is going on?" Joyce asked with a steady voice in quick succession.

"Eh, mom that was a vampire and I'm a vampire slayer," Buffy said in the same tone of voice. Not seeing any way to get out of this without just telling the truth.

Before the situation could become more awkward miss Calendar came in carrying a long wooden box. "Those creeps outside left this behind."

"Mom can we talk about this later. I promise I'll explain everything," Buffy said while eying the box warily.

Meanwhile Angel and Xander opened the box. A large blue arm in chain mail leaped at Xander only to be caught inches from his throat. "Ok, this is majorly freaky," was the only thing Xander could say. Joyce simply passed out from the combined shock.

"It can't be. She wouldn't," Angel said while staring at Xander who was putting the arm back in it's box.

"You recognize this arm?" Buffy asked.

"It-it's a legend... way before my time... of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity... separate the righteous from the wicked... and to burn the righteous down. They call him the Judge," Angel intoned.

"Now him I have read about. Both the versions," Xander said.

"There were two versions?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Yeah, in the British one they tell of a great army that was sent against him. They were finally able to dismember him but not kill him and the pieces were scattered across the world. The French version says that the army was unable to do even that. But after the battle the demon drank so much wine to toast his victory he passed out and then the last remnants were able to dismember him while he was unconscious. The important things are that no weapon forged can kill him," Xander turned to Angel, "that about sum it up?"

"Yeah that's him," Angel acknowledged.

"But who would want to reassemble him?" Willow asked

"Drusilla, those guys outside were Spike's minions," Buffy supplied.

"Only Drusilla would be crazy enough to reassemble him and bring forth Armageddon," Angel finished.

"Angel you've got to get this away from here. You're the only one who can protect this thing," Jenny immediately declared.

"What about Buffy or me. We can protect it just as well," Xander stated feeling slightly insulted.

"You both have school. What? You're just going to leave town for a couple of months?"

"Months?" Buffy screamed. "You can't leave now."

"She's right," Angel said with a sad tone, "I've got to get this to the remotest place possible. I can take a cargo ship to Asia and make my way from there."

"Then Buffy and I will at least escort you to the docks. They might try to get that arm back. Mom could you take Mrs. Summers home please? The rest of you guys clean up."

Everybody suddenly got an angry look.  
"Don't give me that look. If this place isn't cleaned up I don't get the deposit back. Afterwards go to the library, we'll meet up there," Xander clarified.

"I can drive you." Miss calendar said.

* * *

Buffy and Angel were saying their sweet goodbyes with Xander standing several feet away ignoring them when five vampires ambushed them. One fought Buffy, one fought Angel and two attacked Xander in the back making him fall to his knees. Dalton grabbed the box and ran. Angel quickly subdued the one attacking him. "Angel the box," Buffy screamed. Xander meanwhile got back to his feet while avoiding several kicks from the vampires. He shifted his hands to their claw form and used them to chop the heads off of his attackers. Buffy was thrown over the pier. Angel seeing this quickly jumped in after her. "Angel what are you doing? She can swim you idiot," Xander quickly yelled after him. Xander gave chase and was able to catch a straggler. With a hard hit to the back of the head the vampire was unconscious.  
Seeing Buffy and Angel climbing back onto the dock Xander could not resist saying, "have a nice swim?"

"Shut up Harris," Angel replied

"They've got the arm. How are we going to stop them now?" Buffy complained while climbing up the ladder.

"That's where this piece of crap comes in," Xander said while lifting the unconscious vampire to emphasize his point.

"Wake up you damn leech," Xander screamed while squeezing the vampire's hand until Buffy could hear bone breaking.

"Aaaauw, alright," the vampire screamed while he regained consciousness.

"Tell us where Drusilla is hiding and I'll stop crushing your hand," Xander said in a cold even tone.

"Her and Spike are hiding in the warehouse district. The old factory Warehouse 4D," the vampire said. He was willing to do anything to make the felling of his hand getting crushed go away.

Releasing the unfortunate minion's hand Xander stated in a joyful tone of voice, "thank you, you've been very helpful." Showing his gratitude Xander quickly decapitated him. Dusting him quick and painlessly. "Let's go. We don't know how many pieces they have and I don't want to fight this Judge."

Buffy turned to him with a grumpy look. "You do realize you jinxed it right."

Xander thought about what he'd just said and exclaimed, "D'oh!"

* * *

After getting a ride with miss Calendar they arrived at the warehouse district.

"I had to go and jinx it," Xander said. [Yes you did,] his subconscious said in response.

The Judge was complete and he had just turned a vampire to dust by touching it. While Buffy and Angel had gone in through the roof entrance, Xander had gone through the skylights doing the Spiderman trick by climbing between the rafters. 'They never look up do they.'

"Well, well what have we here," Spike said with cheer as Buffy and Angel were brought to stand before the judge.  
'She always gets caught,' Xander thought while reflecting on all the times Buffy failed to sneak up on a bad guy. [Pretty much.]

"Take me. Take me instead." Angel pleads.

'Always the dramatic. I'm almost tempted to let them kill him, almost.' [It would hurt Buffy too much.]  
Before the judge could reach out to Buffy, Xander jumped down from the rafters with his fists in their hammer fists form and his entire body in its armor form. "Leave her alone you overgrown Smurf," he said just before he impacted with the aforementioned blue demon. Hitting the top of the Judge's head with all his strength he actually sent the Judge through the floor into the lower level. The shock wave was enough to throw the surrounding vampires stumbling to the ground.

"Angel get Buffy out of here," Xander yelled while focusing on the vampires.

"What about you?" Buffy asked.

"Don't worry. There's something I've been wanting to try for quite some time," Xander said calmly while a grin started to form on his face.

"No, we're not leaving y…" But she was interrupted by Angel dragging her down the newly created hole.

"You really think you can take on all of us?" Asks one of the minions starting to surround Xander.  
The only warning of their coming doom was the ominous silence coming from Xander. Xander hunched over started to shake lightly and suddenly dozens of spear tipped tentacles shot out from across all over his body impaling not only the surrounding vampires but anything in their way. These tentacles then retracted, because of their jagged edges massive damage was left in their wake, actually damaging several support beams, walls and dusting nearly all the vampires.  
[.com/watch?v=usaWnjG63PI it's the second attack]

The Judge was starting to climb back to the ground floor so Xander quickly finished the remaining vampires by removing their heads from their torsos with his claws. "By, by Blondie," Xander said to Spike.

By now the Judge was back on the ground floor and facing Xander. "You stink of human filth." The Judge said with a tone of superiority.

"At least I don't look like a children's cartoon character who fell into a vat of toxic waste," Xander retorted.

"You will pay for your insolence," the Judge said before sending out a yellow beam of what looked like electricity.

'Oh crap' was the only thought to go through Xander's mind before the beam hit and he was plunged into a world of pain. Though it only lasted seconds it almost seemed like an eternity. And then it was over. But then Xander saw his hands. 'What the hell.' [He can only burn human or human-like beings. This was the only form in our arsenal not even close to human.] 'so you shifted us into the form of an alien?'

The Judge stared in disbelief at the creature in front of it. In all its life this had never happened before. Though the strange creature had hit it with above human strength his first thought was that it must have been a half-breed of demon. But unlike all others before it, it did not burn and disintegrate. It's form simply changed the metal armor changed to a pitch-black carapace. The arms and legs elongated and the joints reversed. It's head actually elongated and it grew a long tail with a visible sharp tip.  
"What manner of half-breed are you?" He could only ask.

All Xander could do was hiss at the Judge. His alien form not suited for human speech. With a single jump he reached his opponent and started to slash with his claws. In seconds the Judge started to bleed a dark purple blood. When Xander tried to impale the Judge on his tail he grabbed it and tried to burn the humanity out of it only for his powers to have no effect. Xander grabbed his opponent's head and applied the classic alien attack with the inner mouth spaying purple and blue bits all over. The Judge collapsed and Xander returned to his normal form. 'Let's never do that again. Those alien instincts nearly took over. Now what are we going to do with blue boy here?'

* * *

Xander walked into the library early the next morning to find nearly everybody there except for Buffy. 'She must be having The Talk with her mom' "Good morning everybody."

"Xander what happened last night? None of you reported in. Except for what Jenny was able to tell us which was that they got their hands on the box," Giles said while looking relieved.

"Well after she dropped us off we snuck into the building. I went through the skylight while Buffy and Angel went in through the roof entrance. We saw the Judge completely assembled burn the humanity out of a vampire. I mean literally burn it by touching it. Almost immediately afterwards he turned his head towards Buffy and Angel who were looking from an overhanging walkway. They were immediately seized by minions and brought before the Judge who was going to burn them. But, before he could I took him out by landing on top of him and actually punching him through the floor. Buffy and Angel escaped though the hole while I dealt with the vampires and the Judge," Xander explained.

"How in heaven's name did you defeat the Judge?" Giles exclaimed in astonishment.

"I shifted into the form of an alien. Something I'd rather never do again. He couldn't burn the humanity out of me in that form. Then I used that form's natural weaponry to disable the Judge," a bit of pride came into Xander's voice when he said this.

"So where is his body. They still might be able to revive him?" Giles asked.

"Don't worry. I disassembled him permanently this time. His head now resides at the bottom of the ocean. The rest of his body is buried in various parts of the surrounding countryside," Xander declared happily.

"Well that is good news. So Spike and Drusilla are dealt with?" Giles asked.

"Like dust in the wind," Xander assured the watcher.

"That still doesn't explain what happened to Buffy and Angel," Giles state, worry starting to ting his voice.

"She's most likely at home answering all her mom's questions and explaining about the supernatural," Xander reasoned, remembering how Mrs Summers passed out lat night.

"I fear not. After your mother returned Joyce home she regained consciousness and demanded to see her daughter. She's been calling us all night to know where Buffy is. She also said that she'd been calling Buffy's phone but couldn't get a signal," Giles informed Xander.

"That's not going to work. Seawater and phones don't get on well together and I know for a fact that Buffy had her phone on her during her little swim, when that vampire pushed her off the dock," Xander said.

At that moment the phone rang and Jenny who was the closest answered it. "It's Buffy. She just got home and she says that she won't be able to leave until she's finished talking with her mom. I also told her about the Judge and she's very relieved to hear it."

"That still doesn't explain why it took them so long to get back," Xander mumbled to himself.

* * *

In the warehouse district Angelus came upon a scene of total carnage. Clear were the signs of battle. In several places sunlight was flooding in through holes made in the sheet metal walls of the factory. Purple and red blood stained the walls and floor in several places. "Somebody had a party."


	9. Chapter 9

**9. Chapter Nine**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions. Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM.

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'  
Anything not according to canon is intentional.  
I also want to thank the 277 readers that track this story, the 28 who took the time to review it and especially the 9 who recommended it.

Thanks to SmithAndWesson who pointed out another one of my spelling mistakes.

Cheyenne mountain complex NORAD

Samantha 'Sam' Carter was working in her lab when Colonel 'Jack' O'Neill entered. "Sir, how does it feel to be back?"

"The leg is almost fully recovered and the ribs are fine. They let me back on duty but no missions yet. I'm actually here to ask you a favor."

"Ask away Sir."

He simply gave her the letter Xander had sent him.

She quickly read it. When she finished she quickly reread it. "Is this true?" she asked her commanding officer in shock.

"Well I do remember an encounter with a girl called Jessica in October of 1980. I was on leave at the time and a couple of my special forces buddies dragged me down to Los Angeles. Me and Kawalsky went into this club… The next morning I woke up next to this redheaded girl called Jessica. I haven't seen or heard from her again and now apparently I have a kid. Now what I'd like you to do is use that computer of yours and do a background check on the kid," Jack said in a way that made it clear that this was not an order but a request from one friend to another.

"You don't believe him?" Sam asked.

"I'm about ninety percent sure its true. But I'd prefer to be a hundred," Jack answered. It being clear that he didn't know how to handle the news.

"Alright sir I'll get right on it," Sam assured him.

"Thanks Carter," Jack answered with a clear look of gratitude.

* * *

It took most of the day for Buffy to tell her story to her mother. At one point Joyce's disbelief of Buffy's story almost led her to saying certain things she would regret later on. This luckily was prevented by the arrival of Jessica who hadn't been told of Buffy's arrival and came to check on Joyce. She quickly confirmed the parts of Buffy's story concerning the supernatural and confirmed that her son also hunted the undead. By the late afternoon Joyce was finally convinced and Buffy was allowed to go see her friends at the library. Joyce would be accompanying her daughter to have a little talk with her daughter's Watcher.

* * *

The library was a scene of content and peace. Hal was placing the last of the books back in their place while discussing the possibility of removing all the books of supernatural subject to the book vault or the office. Xander and Willow where going over something on the computer with Oz holding her hand and reading a book. Suddenly the power went out. "I'm so glad we just saved our work," Xander said. He turned to the last place he'd seen Giles and asked, "hey Giles where's the fuse box around here?"

"Down the hall in the supply closet," Giles was able to answer right before the sound of him bumping in to something was heard throughout the library.

"You guys stay there. I'm on it," Xander said calmly while shifting to the infrared spectrum of his vision.

* * *

"Xander," a dark figure said from the shadows. Causing Xander to shift to infected vision to make Angel more visible.

"Angel," Xander said dismissively before he turned his attention to him "Hey what happened to you guys last night? I told you to get Buffy out of there. I meant to safety by which I meant her house or the library. Where were you guys all night?"

"We went back to my place and had some fun," the vampire answered with glee.

"You what? I was fighting the Judge and you two were having a romantic evening? Come on." This last part was uttered towards the heavens.

"Forget about that now. I've got something to show you," Angel said in a cool voice.

"What? You finally found a hair gel that doesn't make your hair look greasy?" Xander snarked.

"Step away from him Xander," Miss Calendar called out to Xander.

"Why? It's just Deadboy," Xander asked as he turned to Ms Calendar. With that Angelus grabbed Xander from behind and held his throat with his hand.

"So that's why," Xander remarked. 'let's see where he's going with this.' [Alright. But, there's a tentacle with his name on it ready to burst from our back.]

"That's not Angel," Ms Calendar called out.

"Yeah I've already figured that out by myself," Xander said in a sarcastic tone, " So Angelus right?"

"The one and only. I've got a message for Buffy," Angelus said with glee.

"Why don't you give it to me yourself," Buffy said from behind him.

"Well it's not really the kind of message you tell. It sort of involves finding the dead bodies of your friends scattered around," Angelus said slightly disappointed that she ruined his message. Emphasizing his point by squeezing Xander's throat. This sadly had no effect whatsoever.

"Can the hostage ask a question here?" Xander asked with a grin. Making everyone stare at him. "Am I right in assuming that your soul is gone along with the better part of your logic reasoning."

"Well boy you're right about the soul part but…." Angelus said with his tone becoming more joyfull with every word before he was interrupted.

Before Angel could finish his sentence a tentacle shot from Xander's back straight through Angelus' right shoulder and impaling him to the wall. "Aaaah"

"I just wanted to be sure," Xander said smugly.

This was the moment that Joyce walked in following her daughter after parking the car. "Xander what are you doing!" Turning towards Miss Calendar. "Call an ambulance."

"Buffy did you skip the part where you told your mom that your boyfriend's a vampire," Xander asked after coming to the conclusion that Joyce wasn't aware of all the facts.

"He's a vampire?" Joyce asked while staring at her daughter.

"He's a good vampire. He has a soul," Buffy quickly explained.

"Had a soul," Xander immediately corrected her.

"Angel there still has to be a part of you that still remembers who you are," Buffy pleaded desperately towards the squirming vampire impaled to the wall.

"Buffy he lost his soul not his memories. Now I suggest you don't watch this," Xander said while shifting his hand to its claw form and was about to decapitate the vampire when Buffy stepped in-between them.

"No, don't. There has to be a way to put his soul back," Buffy pleaded.

"For the love of god Buffy. I stay away from magic remember. The only people who could do that are the original gypsy clan who ensouled him in the first place."

"Then we get them to do it," Buffy stated with resolve.

"We can't," Miss Calendar said while coming closer.

"What?" Buffy confronted her. Nearly reaching for her teacher's collar only to be stopped by her mother.

"I'm one of the Kalderash the clan that ensouled Angelus. But those ancient and powerful magics are lost even to my people," Jenny explained.

"I'm sorry Buffy but it's better this way," Xander said. Knowing he might lose Buffy's friendship over this. Before Buffy could put herself between Xander and Angelus again Xander decapitated Angelus dusting him instantaneously.

Buffy started hitting Xander screaming all the usual insults and accusations. Ending with her falling to the ground and crying in her mother's arms.

* * *

Cheyenne mountain complex NORAD [three days after O'Neill came back on duty.]

"Carter tell me you got something," Colonel 'Jack' O'Neill asked his XO Samantha 'Sam' Carter.

"Well Sir. Seeing as this is a personal request I can't use the army and air force sources. But, I've been able to confirm that Jessica Harris nee Stamper gave birth to an Alexander Lavelle Harris on June fifth 1981," Same stated.

"His middle name is Lavelle? Poor kid," Jack said in his usual way.

"According to his school record he's gone from a D average to a straight A student since last November. This coincides with his mother filing for divorce. My guess would be an unhappy home life made it hard to excel in school," Sam continued acting as if she hadn't heard Jack's comment.

So according to this he could be my son. The dates match up closely enough. Now for the most important question," Jack said while taking on a more serious tone.

"What, Sir?" Sam asked, becoming cuious.

"Does he play hockey?" Jack said with all of his seriousness dissipating in seconds.

"You'll have to ask him that. It doesn't say in his records," Carter said while smiling at the obvious attempt by Jack to lighten the mood.

* * *

The following weeks Buffy slipped into a deep state of depression. Barely talking to her mother and friends. When Xander or Jenny came near her she would simply glare at them and storm off. Slowly but surely with the help of her mom, Willow and lots of ice-cream she started to talk again. Meanwhile the relationship between Giles and Miss Calendar had become difficult. But eventually they talked it over. Giles felt betrayed but realized that Jenny was still the same person he fell in love with. Then nearly a month after avoiding him Buffy under the advice from her mom and Willow confronted Xander.

"Xander I'm not going to forgive you anytime soon. But, I want us to at least be able to work together," Buffy said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Buffy I'm sorry for what I had to do. But what were we going to do? Keep him in the book vault for the rest of eternity or chain him up in your basement. We couldn't put his soul back and we sure as hell couldn't let Angelus back into the world. I know about all the things he did back in the day and I know Angel would never want that to happen again," Xander said fully convinced of his convictions.

"Thanks for the apology," Buffy said quietly. The first hint of a smile graced her face since that horrible evening. But, just as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. "I know we couldn't let him go and I know we couldn't just keep him. I just wanted it to end differently," she said trying to make Xander see it from her point of view.

"I know Buffy and I wanted it to end differently for you too. I never wanted to hurt you," Xander said compassionately.

"I know," Buffy said quietly before walking away.

* * *

[Three weeks after O'Neill came back on duty.]

"Hey Oz, what happened to you?" Xander asked calmly.

"What do you mean?" the stoic teen asked.

"Are you getting sick? Because you're showing up as redder than normal to my vision and it seems to be spreading from your hand," Xander said while pointing at Oz's hand.

"I must have got something from my cousin Jordy yesterday. He does not like to be tickled," Oz said while showing his bandaged finger.

Two nights later Xander was on patrol when he heard the typical howling of a wolf, an animal not native to California. "This can't be good," Xander said with a feeling of foreboding. Running through the streets, alleys and over the roofs of several buildings Xander reached the Bronze just in time to stop a what would appear to be a werewolf.

"Hear boy. I've got a nice bone for you," Xander said while trying to distract the werewolf. 'I can't kill it. Its most likely an innocent person' [So no silver then. Knock it out and don't get bit.] The werewolf quickly ran at him and jumped for him. Xander dodged the obvious attack and hit the creature in the back of the head with about half of his full strength. The werewolf hit the ground snout first and stayed down.

"Well those are some slick moves," a grizzly old guy said from behind Xander.

Turning to the other side of the alley Xander saw what appeared to be a hunter armed with a large shotgun. "Please tell me that's for duck hunting," Xander asked. Not liking where his thoughts were going.

"Nope. It's for werewolves," the hunter said with a little bit of pride.

Xander became nauseous at the idea, but had to ask, "it doesn't bother you that they're people?"

"Not, really," the hunter shrugged, "their pelts fetch a high price on the Asian black market."

Xander grabbed the approaching hunter and threw him into the nearby wall. He quickly took the man's rifle and pointed it at the hunter. "How many have you killed? How many?"

"About thirty. What's the big deal? They're just animals," the hunter stated without any hint of remorse.

Xander was seriously contemplating killing this mass murderer. He knew he couldn't turn him over to the police. But in the end he decided to compromise. He simply shot the hunter in the leg.

"I never want to see you again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, yeeeeeeeeessss," the hunter screamed in pain.

Leaving the wounded hunter to his fate Xander turned to the unconscious werewolf only for the hunter to shoot him in the back with a handgun he had kept concealed. Xander turned around and the hunter could only stare in amazement as Xander shot him in the head with his own shotgun.

"Now what am I going to do with you?" Xander asked the unconscious werewolf. [Book vault,] was the quick mental answer to his question.

Xander quickly carried the werewolf in a fireman's carry to the library. In preparation for the next morning he covered the creature with a large towel and went to get some unisex clothing. Leaving Hal to look over the werewolf.

He returned a few minutes before sunrise and watched as the werewolf transformed into none other than Oz.

"Good morning," Xander said calmly. Not sure what else to say in a situation like this.

Looking around Oz stared at him. Grateful for the partial cover the towel supplied. "Why am I naked in the book vault?" The only sign of his shock being a slightly raised voice and a raised eyebrow.

"You turned into a werewolf last night. As far as I can figure out it must have come from your cousin," Xander explained while giving some clothes to Oz.

To make sure Oz called his aunt. Who quickly admitted to Jordy's lycanthropy. Meanwhile Xander read the letter he had picked up at home when he got the clothes.

_Dear Xander_

_Yes, I am that Jack O'Neill and I remember meeting your mother on that faithful occasion._

_Though I have no idea what to tell you right now I would like to meet you this summer. I asked a doctor friend of mine to do the paternity test then and she'll handle the situation with the utmost discretion and speed._

_Your maybe father Jack_

"So I've got to warn you. According to Giles' books you're going to go through your transformation three nights every lunar cycle. The night before, the night itself and the night after the full moon. The easiest way we could do this would be to simply lock you in the book vault," Xander explained to Oz while trying to sound casual and friendly.

"Fine," Oz said calmly, clearly still coming to grips with the situation.

"Hal make sure you remove the books from the vault on the appropriate days," Xander said to the android standing to the side.

"Alright Xander. I've put it on my to-do list," Hal answered.

* * *

In the following weeks group dynamics returned to normal. The relationship between Willow and Oz reached new heights thanks to Willow's unwavering support in the face of Oz's new condition.

And apart from the regular problems there was only a minor incident. Amy started to use her magic for selfish goals but after a conversation with Xander and Miss Calendar she agreed to join Willow in lessons with the senior witch to prevent any negative side effects of magic use.

* * *

Buffy had collapsed during patrol and Xander had immediately brought her to the local hospital.

"So, tell me again how Buffy's slayer healing protects her from numerous demonic poisons and bacteria, but she can still catch the flu?" Xander asked Giles in disbelief.

"Yes, this is a strange situation. I've checked with the Watcher diaries and there is no reference of a slayer ever getting sick," Giles quickly said.

"Do you think somebody or something did this to her?" Willow asked from the side.

"Maybe to temporally weaken her," Giles reasoned.

"It's not specific enough to be like that. Nearly the entire school has this flu," Xander said before sharply turning towards the open door he cocked his head. "Do you guys see that?"

"See what?" Both Giles and Willow asked.

Standing up from his seat Xander quickly moved towards the door "A guy with a serious overbite, a trenchcoat and apparently he's invisible to human beings. But he's definitely showing up on Alien vision"

Xander saw the being enter the children's ward and increased his speed. He entered the ward and saw that the being in question was advancing on a little girl. Before it could reach her Xander grabbed it in a headlock and dragged it into the hallway. All along the way the now obvious demon kept scratching and trying to break free. Once he was out of the children's ward he twisted until the creature's neck snapped. After he disposed of the body in the morgue he returned to Buffy's room just in time to see her waking up. "Hey Buff how are you feeling?"

* * *

"I'm telling you. Something weird is going on," Buffy stated.

"Isn't that like our school motto?" Willow asked.

"Pretty much. But I don't know. This time it bugs me," Buffy said with certainty.

"I don't wanna spoil your fun but a domestic dispute, a little case of chalkboard Tourette's? All sounds like it could be human," Xander said calmly until just as he finished his sentence an arm reached out of his locker and tried to strangle him only for Xander to grab it's wrist. After a small tug of war Xander released it and it disappeared.

"Okay now if I add this to the list we get a poltergeist. We need to talk to Miss Calendar and Giles about a course of action," Xander stated while going over the available information in his head.

After explaining the events Giles spoke, "I have to agree with Xander's conclusion. Sadly the only way to solve out problem is to find out what happened and help the spirit to deal with its unsolved business or its behavior will only grow more violent and erratic," Giles said while remembering past occurrences.

"I can try to hold a séance. But, if the spirit is too violent we'll have to do an exorcism," Miss Calendar suggested.

Later that day Giles, Hal and Xander were able to stop the janitor from killing one of the female teachers. The next morning Willow announced that she had found something of interest.

Seeing the pictures in the newspaper Buffy exclaimed, "that's him, James. I've been seeing him in my dreams." Grabbing the yearbook of 1955 Buffy pointed out a boy and a woman. "Him and this teacher had a thing. I'm sure of it."

"According to this article he killed her. Which means a crime of passion followed with a guilt induced suicide," Willow concluded. At the stares she received she simply said. "My parents are psychologists and I've read plenty of their books to know something on the subject."

At noon screams were heard throughout the school. All the food in the cafeteria had turned into snakes some not even indigenous to America. For the rest of the afternoon Hal and Xander helped the people from the local zoo to capture them. Neither of them would experience any ill effect from the various poisons the snakes produced. Hal because his systems were inorganic and Xander because he absorbed a small amount of cellular material thereby gaining the snake's own immunity to it's venom.

By the evening it was decided to skip the séance and go straight to the exorcism. Even though Xander and Hal kept well away from the magic. The spirit was too powerful and the spell failed. Somehow later that night James was able to lure Buffy back to the school. Xander in trying to stop her was possessed as well. Thankfully Buffy played the role of James. After she shot Xander he fell off the balcony and simply got back up and while still possessed confronted Buffy/James. So James finally found peace.

* * *

"So Giles you called," Xander said while he and Willow walked into the man's office.

"Oh, hey Buffy," the two friends said when they noticed that Buffy was already in the room.

"I called you in to tell you that the remains of Dodd McAlvy were found on the beach and Buffy was already here to report that Cameron accosted her," Giles explained with clear suppressed anger.

"What? Tell me you suspended him," Willow immediately asked.

"Coach Marin has assured me that he will be punished. If he is not I'll expel him and mark it on his permanent record," Giles said in a way that made it clear that he was being very serious.

"Way to go G-m… Giles," Xander said.

"Now back to the remains. He was eviscerated. Nothing left but skin and cartilage. Any ideas?" Giles asked while looking at Xander.

"I know of dozens that collect certain pieces and organs but never like this," Xander said after a few seconds of thought.

"Nonetheless I'm expecting a delivery of new books from the Watchers Council and the answer might be in there," Giles said slightly dejected.

"That would be way too convenient," Buffy said to the side.

"I was right. We've gone through all of them and still no demon who eats only the inside and leaves the cartilage and the skin. Ok who wants something to drink? My treat," Xander suggested to everyone in the library.

After taking their orders Xander went to the vending machines in the lounge where he was confronted with Cameron. "Like the nose." Pausing Xander sniffed the air. "Man you stink. What have you been doing swimming in the sewer instead of the pool?"

"You're lucky I'm hungry or I would kick your ass," Cameron sneered. Turning away he headed towards the cafeteria.

"The cafeteria's closed," Xander said as if he was talking to a toddler.

"Not for me," the jock said.

Xander grabbed Cameron's shoulder only for the skin to detach from it. Cameron started to scream and rip off the rest of his skin. Revealing a creature unlike anything Xander had ever seen.

"Cameron interesting new look," was th

e first thing to leave Xander's mouth. The creature that once was Cameron Walker simply screeched and jumped through the nearby window.

* * *

"Are you sure?" a shocked Giles asked.

"Yes, Cameron turned into the creature from the black lagoon. Leaving behind his skin. Now we've got to figure out how this happened. Giles can you put me on the swim team? That way I could follow their routine and check if they're being exposed to something. While you guys check out Coach Marin and nurse Greenleigh. They're the only ones who have constant access to all the swimmers," Xander asked while making sure he was covering all his bases.

"I cannot put you on the team but coach Marin was going to hold tryouts to replace Dodd and now Cameron too most likely. With your physical state you'll certainly make it," Giles assured him.

And he was right. Two days later coach Marin held tryouts. Xander did not want to stand out so he simply swam only slightly better than the rest of the swimmers. He was picked and told by the coach to hit the steam room. After only a few seconds his subconscious alerted him. [It's in the steam. ] 'What is?' Xander asked his subconscious, starting to look around. [DNA, I don't know from what and some strange proteins.] 'Please tell me it's not going to change us into one of those things.' [Not if we don't want it.]

After quickly leaving the locker-room he went to Giles' office. "It's in the steam. Its either the coach or the nurse. They put DNA and foreign proteins in the steam."

"Oh, dear," Giles said while getting up. "We'll have to confront them and hope they have an antidote. It's only a matter of time before more of the swimmers are affected."

They found the two of them by the pool arguing.

"This has *got* to stop, Carl. Those poor children," Nurse Greenleigh pleaded with coach Marin.

What, are you a quitter? We got no room for quitters on *this* team!" coach Marin yelled.

"Do you even understand what's happening? Listen to yourself," nurse Greenleigh said, trying to make him see reason.

"I'm very close to perfecting this. We just need to adjust the mix," the coach said with clear fanaticism.

"There will be no adjusting of any mix," Giles said while walking out of the shadows from where he and Xander had overheard the conversation between the nurse and the coach.

"Principal Giles. I don't know what you overheard. But I can assure you…" Marin backtracked, trying in vain to assuage Giles' suspicions.

"Don't bother. Xander here has already notified me of your little addition to the steam in the steam room," Giles said while Xander also walked out of the shadows.

"Harris! I gave you a spot on the team and this is how you repay me! Do the words team spirit mean anything to you!" the now clearly delusional coach screamed.

"You're turning high school students into fish monsters and you're criticizing me? I called the cops and they'll be here shortly," Xander returned in an even tone.

The coach pushed nurse Greenleigh into the pool and took off quickly followed by Xander while Giles took care of nurse Greenleigh. Xander caught up to him in the basement near the water purification installation. "Not another step," Marin growled while pointing a gun at Xander..

"Pulling a gun on a student. You're so going to jail for a long time," Xander said without any sign of worry about the gun pointed at his face.

"That's enough son. Into the hole," Marin commanded while using his other had to point down.

Looking down Xander saw the former students. "No thanks." Walking towards the coach Xander grabbed the gun making it go off to the side and punched him in the face knocking the coach out. Xander took the gun and relieved the man of his keys. After the cops took his and Giles' statements and arrested coach Marin and Nurse Greenleigh Xander paid a visit to the good coach's apartment and made sure that no trace of the research was left behind. 'I'm going to have to release those guys. We can't keep them in a cage under the swimming pool,' Xander thought. [When we release them into the sea we can try out our new gills.] 'Gills?' asked his subconscious while moving one of his hands to his neck. [Thanks to that research I know what to look for and from what the DNA originated. But to properly apply it we'll have to do some tests.]

During the following month Xander went swimming several times. For the first time he released the transformed students into the sea. Afterwards he took the form of a mako shark, this allowed him to get used to breathing under water. The second time he went the Waterworld way. Having webbed feet and hands and having the gills behind the ears and along the neck. On the third trip he went to Monterey Bay to test his limits. As he was not limited by his oxygen supply or human lungs he was able to reach the bottom of the undersea canyon present there. Of course at those depths the only light visible is the bioluminescence of the local fauna and the temperature is below zero. But thanks to the alienvision and working together with the shark's ability to see electromagnetic fields Xander was still able to see his surroundings.

This of course was very useful when Giles was contacted by the museum about an artifact that was found buried around Sunnydale. It turned out that they had uncovered the dormant demon Acathla. With the help of the entire group they stole it from the museum put it on a boat they had rented and Xander guided the statue to the bottom of the ocean. Where he buried it.

* * *

After the Acathla incident all that was left were a few exams and the start of the summer break.

"So buff what are your plans for the Summer? Going to visit your dad again?" Xander asked.

"No, but me and mom are thinking of going to LA for a shopping trip," Buffy said with obvious glee. She turned to Xander and asked, "So you're going through with this?"

"Meeting my biological dad? Yeah. We've written a few letters. He seems like the kind of guy I could get along with," Xander said.

"But what are you going to do about the paternity test? I know I'm not sceincegirl here but won't they notice something wrong when their tests don't work or show that you have DNA that's not human," Buffy asked.

"Yeah, I've figured it out. I'm just going to make sure that the cells they take only contain my original DNA. Unless they take a blood sample they won't know the difference," he said.

"So where are you going to meet?" Willow asked.

"I'm going to drive down to his base where that doctor friend of his will probably take a swab to do the test. After that he's going to give me the keys for his house in Colorado Springs and I'll wait for him there. Meanwhile Jack is going to finish his work for the day and after work we're going to his cabin in Minnesota," Xander explained his plans.

"I hope you guys have fun," Buffy said to her best male friend.

"Thanks Buff," Xander said happily.


	10. Chapter 10

**10. Chapter 10**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions. Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM.

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'  
Anything not according to canon is intentional. (I hope)

Xander drove though the night and arrived at Jack's place in Colorado Springs early in the morning. Jack warmly greeted him on Xander's arrival at his home.

"Welcome Xander to casa O'Neill. Now I propose we have some breakfast first before going to the base. Once there we let old doctor Frasier take the necessary samples. After that you can come back here and rest. At about seven I'll be back and we can have some takeout for dinner and by this time tomorrow morning we leave for my cabin in Minnesota," Jack suggested while offering the boy his hand.

Shaking the offered appendage Xander said, "sounds great. Breakfast will be great, I'm starving. Although instead of resting I might check out the town." His subconscious had immediately examined some of Jack's epithelial calls for his DNA and gave Xander the results, [yep, he's our dad.] 'Cool.'

After breakfast they both went in their cars with Xander following Jack to the base. After signing in and going through two security checkpoints they reached the base's infirmary where Xander was introduced to Dr. Janet Frasier.

"Janet this is Xander. Xander this is Janet. Now if you'll excuse me I have some work to do. Xander I'll see you later tonight."

"See you tonight Jack." Turning to the Doctor Xander decided to be polite to the lady who had acces to all the sharp and pointy things. "Hello ma'am nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Colonel O'Neill has informed me of the circumstances and all I need from you is a swab from the inside of your cheek. The results should be in by tomorrow," Janet said politely.

Grateful that the good doctor was using the expected technique Xander took the offered swab and swabbed it on the inside of his mouth where the specifically for the occasion grown cells were deposited on the swab.

After receiving the swab back Janet gave the sample to one of her assistants. "That will be all. You can go back to the surface and enjoy the rest of the day. I'll have an airman escort you out," Janet continued in her very polite and friendly tone.

Unknown to Xander it was only at the promise that Xander would not be left alone on the base that he was allowed to come down for the paternity test.

"Thank you ma'am. Have a nice day." Xander said while walking away.

Just as Xander and the airman reached the elevator the alarm started to blare. 'I thought you made sure those cells only contained my original DNA,' Xander thought quickly thinking he was the cause of the alarm. [Yes, I made sure. The correct cells were harvested. It might not be us that caused it,] supplied his subconscious.

"Does this happen often?" Xander asked, trying to get some more information.

"I'm not at liberty to say. Although according to regulations no one is allowed to leave the base after the alarm has been sounded until the all clear has been given or you're given a direct order by the base commander to leave," the airman said.

After waiting for fifteen minutes the all clear still wasn't given. But, at least the alarm had stopped blaring. Xander was escorted to the guest quarters where he waited for another seven hours. Every hour he would ask the guard at his door when he would be allowed to leave and what was going on. Each time the guard answered with 'soon' and 'classified'.

'This has gone on for long enough,' Xander thought while walking towards the door. Xander lightly knocked. An airman opened the door. But before he could say anything Janet walked in carrying her doctor's bag.

"Ok, I've waited long enough. What's going on? I wanna talk to Jack," Xander said with a clear tone of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Xander. But, I've got to give you a shot. A nasty infectious bacteria has spread throughout the complex and I'm treating everyone. Jack also asked me to tell you that he's sorry about the trip you guys had planned but he won't be able to leave anytime soon," Janet said. Her weariness shining though her bedside manner.

"Ok, two things. One why doesn't he come and tell me himself and two how did a germ that would cause this base to go into lockdown get here?" Xander asked while thinking, 'I don't trust this and I'm not letting her anywhere near me with that syringe.'

A sad look appeared on Janet's face before she answered, "he's busy right now. Now I need your arm."

"No thank you. I haven't know you long enough to let you inject me with anything," Xander said while becoming nervous about the doctor's sad look.

"Please don't be difficult. I've got more people to treat after you," the CMO said. Upon seeing Xander's reluctance she called for the airman who was stationed at the door. When he entered and tried to restrain Xander, Xander threw him into the wall. Knocking him out. Janet was about to call for help but was stopped by Xander who covered her mouth with his hand. He went through her bag and took out a syringe and a tranquilizer he knew from his memories. After a short struggle he was able to inject Janet knocking her out quickly and lay her softly on the ground. He quickly took the ID card of the unconscious airman and took his form. 'Let's go find dear old dad.'

* * *

Xander opened the door and saw no one in the hallway. 'Okay, what the hell is going on here?' Walking back to the main hallway of the level Xander encountered what appeared to be a Sergeant. "I'm sorry have you seen Colonel O'Neill around here? I have a message for him," Xander stated.

Staring at what appeared to be an airman the sergeant turned to Xander. "Haven't you heard? Colonel O'Neill has been pinned to a wall in the gate room by that artifact they brought back yesterday," the Sergeant said.

"No, I hadn't heard thank you," Xander said politely while thinking, 'pinned to a wall by an artifact! What are these people doing here?' [No idea. And how can he be in a gate room when we're 18 levels below the ground.] When he reached the stairwell Xander decided to go in the direction of where the most noise was coming from, down. Once he reached level 21 he left the stairwell and explored it. He found several labs and in one he found scientists and soldiers discussing and studying strange symbols and what appeared to be pictures of bacteria.

'So there is a germ. Oh my god there's an outbreak and I just tranquilized the senior medic on base,' Xander realized.

"I'm going to check in the gate room," said a blond woman not too far from Xander. Hearing the blonde say those words gave Xander hope. He followed her and joined her in the elevator. They descended to level 28 where the door got stuck. The blonde started hitting the doors

"Allow me," Xander said while moving towards the doors. But before he was about to pull the doors open a man with glasses opened it for him.

"Thank you Daniel," the blonde said.

Leaving the two Xander went down the hallway. Until he came to an open door. Inside he saw his father impaled to the wall by a rod that came out of some kind of orb that was suspended in the center of the room by other rods sticking out of it. The most disturbing thing was the fact that florescent veins of what could only be the bacteria spreading from the points where the rods met the walls. Certain parts of his father were also fluorescing meaning that he was infected on a massive scale. Next to the orb stood a ramp leading to a giant metal ring inscribed with all kinds of symbols. Also in the room was a tall black man using a torch to kill some of the bacteria. But, Xander's attention was focused solely on Jack to the point of ignoring everything else. Taking back his normal form Xander approached the man he met earlier that day and whom he knew to be his father.

"Dad?" Xander nearly whispered while approaching his father, "how did this happen?"

"Xander? You shouldn't be in here. Teal'c get him out of here," Jack spoke in obvious discomfort.

"Remove that boy from the gate room immediately," said a voice of authority with a slight Texan accent. For the first time Xander noticed his surroundings and saw the bald general, the blonde and the man with the glasses from the elevator looking down at him through the observation window across from the metal ring.

As Teal'c approached Xander he turned to the window and screamed. "I'm not leaving him like this." Turning towards the rod Xander grabbed it and started to pull it from his father's shoulder. Slowly at first but soon at a steady pace. [Wait a second.] 'Why? We have to get it out of him.' [The germs. They're sentient.] Closing his eyes Xander heard an unfamiliar deep voice in his mind.

{We only wish to survive. They were about to return us to our planet. We could not go back.}

'Then why did you impale my dad to the wall,' Xander thought back.

{We are trying to communicate. Originally we would have been able to talk trough him. But our progress has been slowed down by a chemical that was introduced in his bloodstream. Currently we are sending signals though this base's computers to attempt to communicate. But, now thanks to you this is all unnecessary,} the voice stated.

Opening his eyes Xander realized that only seconds had passed. Teal'c was still headed towards him. Suddenly the orb started to emit a high-pitched whine. The rod impaling Jack retracted. Xander quickly caught him and held him in his arms. The florescent veins across the walls started to detach from them and move towards the orb where they formed a human shaped body. Turning towards the observation window of the control room it started to speak. "Greetings, This is truly a strange feeling. We wish to apologize for the problems we have caused."

Turning on the microphone the general addressed the florescent being. "My name is…"

"Hammond, yes. We have learned this from O'Neill. We know everything he and his son know."

Amazed by this revelation Hammond said, "then you should also know we mean you no harm."

"You awoke us by bringing us to an environment that we found pleasing," the being answered.

"We have only recently become aware that you are sentient," the general admitted.

The being nodded slightly and spoke, "we understand. But, we cannot return to our planet. Life there became impossible so we created the orb wherein we slumbered."

"Where you slept for a hundred thousand years," Daniel supplied.

Turning to the scientist with its eyeless face the being spoke, "yes, Daniel"

"Waiting for someone to come along, like us, and take you through the Stargate," Daniel continued.

"We determined that the Stargate was a transportation device. But, we could not control it. The number of possible combinations was too large. We did not even know the meaning of the symbols. So the orb was built to be easily transported through it. It was written on the orb. Once exposed to the atmosphere of a living world, we would go forth," the being explained.

"And multiply," Daniel continued.

"So it was written," the being answered. "We cannot go back."

"We cannot allow you to stay," General Hammond cut in.

"O'Neill feels this as well. However, you have allowed us no alternatives," the being concluded.

"This place, admittedly out of our ignorance, is about to be destroyed by an explosion," Hammond admitted.

"Such energy only serves to nourish us. We would multiply and consume your world," the being explained.

"If you would allow us to restore our communications, we could stop that from happening. We would survive," Hammond proposed.

"We would prefer this as well. We do not wish to kill Xander or Jack. But what of us?" the being asked.

"P4G-881! It's primordial, lots of oxygen and sunlight. Like this world was a quarter of a billion years ago," Daniel suggested.

"Sir, we can't open the Stargate without the computers," Carter stated.

"You would send us there? Through your Stargate?" the being asked with a tone of hope. they did not want to destroy the lives of these beings. They also refused to die.

"We would," Hammond promised.

"For what reason?" the being asked. They knew they had wronged these humans.

"So that we both may survive," Hammond answered.

"Agreed." As soon as the alien entity said this all the remaining bacteria cells throughout the base started to come together and move for the gate room. All the computers and the power returned to normal.

"Sir, computers are back to normal," Carter said.

"Start dialing P4G-881 as soon as possible," the general commanded.

"Yes, sir," Carter answered.

As the rest of the bacteria mass enters the gate room the gate starts to dial. The rods retract into the orb and the human form holds on to it. It turns to Xander. "To show our gratitude you now have all that we know and the solution to your greatest fear."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked a little puzzeled.

"You shall see," It stated before turning back towards the gate as it finishes its dialing sequence and the unstable vortex is ejected from the gate. The entire mass and the orb passes through the event horizon. Immediately after the gate shuts down Major Carter and the General disarm the base's self-destruct.

As Carter returns to the gate room O'Neill awakens and checks his left shoulder only to find it healed with no sign of there ever being a metal rod there. Turning to his son he said the first thing that came to mind, "you called me dad."

"After everything you just went through that was the first thing that caught your attention? I really need an explanation here. Because that thing just…" Xander trailed off now that he could really look at his surroundings and look back at the events that had just occurred. "Ok, how about we both sit down and explain everything."

"I would enjoy that very much," a voice stated from behind them. Turning around they saw General Hammond who asked, "I would also like to know how you got down here without being stopped?"

Before anything could be said the alarms started to blare again. "The alarm originated from the visitor's quarters. Dr. Frasier and airman Welts have been found unconscious, Sir," one of the gate technicians said.

"I can explain everything," Xander quickly exclaims.

* * *

A half-hour after the incident Dr. Frasier was back on her feet and tending to her patients. One of the first of which was Xander who was getting a full workup and his dad after his exposure.

"I want to apologize for what I did. I'm really sorry. But, I was starting to get really suspicious being stuck there deep underground, not knowing what was going on," Xander apologized to the CMO.

"Apology accepted. Now will you give me your arm," Janet said while holding a suspiciously large needle.

After the full physical Xander was escorted to the briefing room. At the head of the table sat General Hammond and on his right sat SG-1. Across from them sat Xander flanked by two airmen.

"Ok, I know I've got some explaining to do. But, are the guards really necessary?" Xander asked.

"Until we know more I'm afraid so son," Hammond stated before turning to the monitor where he pressed the remote. "Would you care to explain this," Hammond asked while pointing at the screen. On the screen was the security camera footage of Xander in the guest quarters followed by the entrance of doctor Frasier and the fight with the unlucky airman. After Xander took the man's form the general hit pause.

Realizing that he better be honest with these people Xander started to explain, "I'll try to put this in terms that you would be more familiar with. Roughly two years ago I was made aware of the existence of what would normally be called the supernatural." Seeing the faces of the other people in the room Xander quickly said. "Hear me out. Now you must be thinking there's no such thing. But, I've personally encountered vampires, demons, witches and several other things. Now for instance a vampire in your terminology would be a beings from another dimension that can't exist in this one without possessing and animating a corpse. Actually most demons are creatures from another dimension or the spawn of humans and them."

"What does this story have to do with you being able to take the form of someone else or being strong enough to throw a man across the room with one hand without looking like you would be able to?" Jack asked.

"I'm getting to it. So last Halloween I was dressed as a soldier. A chaos mage put a spell on all the costumes and articles sold from his store and this caused me to turn into a soldier version of me from another reality. The problem was that he'd been consumed by Alex Mercer. The easiest way to describe Alex would be a human sized virus/bacteria with full cellular control. With the DNA of any being he would be able to take their form and any of their natural abilities. If he consumed the being in question he would also gain all of their knowledge. So I became Alex, who was using my alternate's form. During Halloween night my body was damaged. But because of Alex's powers it was healed in a matter of minutes and when the spell was lifted a part of me kept the abilities and it changed the rest of my body. So that's how I was able to do those things. I don't care if you don't believe me. But, it's the truth," Xander explained.

During Xander's explanation SG-1's and the generals' expressions went from disbelief to shock the moment another reality was mentioned and even looking at Daniel.

"Now that I've done the explaining thing. Can you please tell me how you got your hands on an alien device that opens wormholes? What did you call it, a Stargate?" The room simply became silent like the grave and they all stared at Xander.

"I might not look it but I'm not an idiot. The being from earlier shared with me all that it knew. I'll admit it didn't have a culture or even a spoken language. But, it understood everything that happened on it's own scale. That includes quantum mechanics and it's observations of the identical device on it's own planet. From that I can deduce that the device you have can't be manmade. Hell, those devices have been around for millions of years according to the rate of decay of the material they're made of," Xander deduced.

Carter was about to start asking questions when General Hammond cut her off. "Airmen escort this young man to the guest's quarters and guard it," the general ordered.

"Oh, come on I spent nearly the entire day in that room. Can't I at least go to the cafeteria and eat something first or have access to a phone so I can tell my friends back home that I got here safely," Xander pleaded.

I'll allow one monitored phone call and I'll have something brought to your room," the general relented.

* * *

As her first priority Janet started her analysis of the samples she got from Xander. Almost immediately she couldn't believe what her equipment was telling her. She immediately called in all the other doctors and any microbiologists on base. They worked nonstop till noon the following day. When she notified the general he called for a briefing with SG-1.

"Doctor Frasier has notified me that's she's finished her preliminary analyses of Xander. Go ahead doctor."

"Having seen the unusual abilities of Xander firsthand I treated the samples like we would an alien organism. I was proven right as soon as I started my analysis," Janet started while pressing the remote for the projector an image appeared. On one side were pictures of normal human cells and on the right the corresponding cells from Xander. "As you can see Xander's cells are nearly all identical witch some minor differences according to their task. There are also unknown cells. They're the size of viruses but they're closer to bacteria in structure. We're not even close to understanding what they're for. It was when I got to the genetic analysis that it got really interesting." Another image appeared. "Normal human DNA consists of a single double helix made up of four base pairs. Xander's DNA is made up of five double helixes we cross-referenced it with the sample I got from Xander earlier and it appears that that DNA is the only complete one and that the other four surround it. I can safely say that he really is who he says he is. But, I have no idea how his body underwent such a drastic change," Janet explained.

At this moment another doctor brings in a report and said, "we thought you should see this."

After quickly going over the report Janet turns to the other doctor, "you're sure about this?"

"We double checked it," the doctor exclaimed.

"What's the matter Doctor?" Hammond asked Janet.

"Well General we've been doing a full workup on everyone on base who was infected and according to this Colonel O'Neill's cellular and genetic structure is changing to resemble that of Xander's," Janet informed the general.


	11. Chapter 11

**11. Chapter 11**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions. Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM.

[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'

Anything not according to canon is intentional. (I hope)  
A/N: Yes, I'm finnaly updating. I'd also like to thank all my loyal reviewers.  
-

(Xander's phone call home)

"Hello, Hal Rain speaking," the android said.

"Hey Hal it's Xander can I talk to my mom," Xander asked.

"She went with Joyce and Buffy to go shopping in LA," Hal informed Xander.

Looking at the airman sitting next to him Xander went back to his phone call. "And Willow's with her parents somewhere at some conference and Giles went to England. All right they found out about my secret and I need you to bring the necessary evidence of their origin so they'll believe me," Xander told the android. He received a bewildered look from the airman, but he wasn't interrupted.

"Where can I drop it off?" Hal asked.

"At my dad's base, Cheyenne mountain complex. Just hand them over to the guard at the entrance and tell him it's for me," Xander said.

"I'll leave as soon as possible," said Hal.

After that Xander returned to the visitor's quarters and ate some food and read some books Daniel Jackson had lent him. It was the first time in a while that he actually read the books and not simply scanned them.

The next day after noon (after last chapter where Jack found out he was changing.).

Xander had just finished his lunch when Jack came into the room.

"What did you do to me?" Jack nearly screamed at him. Barely keeping his temper in check.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Xander replied with confusion.

"I just found out that my body is changing. I'm becoming like you. Care to explain?" Jack asked.

"So that's what it meant. The being told me I now had the solution to my greatest fear," Xander answered with a slightly distant look.

"Which is?" Jack asked with impatience.

"It used to be clowns," Jack's expression at that revelation nearly made Xander smile. "But, ever since I became like this I've been afraid to be alone."

"We all get lonely sometimes," Jack said trying to be comforting. "That still doesn't explain why my genetics are changing."

"Not that kind of alone. Because of my abilities I'm most likely going to be around for an incredibly long time. I'm afraid of waking up one day and everyone that I loved or cared about will be long dead and buried," Xander said with a look of horror.

Xander sat down on the edge of the bed and his eyes took on a haunted look. For the first time Jack considered the implications of his son's and now his powers. Only to realize that this was the first time he had thought about Xander as his son after getting the results back from the paternity test.

For the rest of the day Jack and Xander simply talked. Sharing funny childhood stories and talking about family.

"My mom has an older brother Harry and he has a daughter Grace. But, I've only seen pictures of them. They had a falling out when mom married Tony. Harry knew how bad Tony was but mom couldn't see it back then. They've gotten back in touch since the divorce. How about you?" Xander asked after telling about his mom's side of the family.

"My mom and dad passed away several years ago. I was an only child," Jack answered, his face clearly showing that he missed them dearly.

"So have you actually told any of your relatives you've got a seventeen year old son?" Xander asked assuming that his dad had to have some more distant family.

Before Jack could even answer there was a knock on the door and Daniel came in. "I'm sorry to interrupt but someone called Hal Rain dropped off a packaged for Xander."

"Yeah I called him to bring over some evidence so you people will finally believe me about hos I got this way."

After a short while an airman brought down several CDs to the briefing room where Xander, SG-1 and the General were waiting for him. Taking the CDs Xander used the computer connected to the overhead beamer and played one of the movie files.

"This is from a traffic camera on a side road." It showed the typical scene of children of different ages going trick or treating in a typical American neighborhood. All of a sudden as if an invisible sign had been given nearly all the children froze in mid-step. A second later all hell broke loose. They started running around screaming and causing general mayhem. One of the kids even started to shoot with a gun that moments before had been made of plastic. Another jumped so far that he went out of frame.

"This is from someone who was handing out candy at the same time," Xander said, trying to keep the fact that he had an android from becoming public knowledge. Starting a second movie it showed kids receiving candy. It seemed to be filmed from the perspective of the person giving out the candy. The kids suddenly became quiet. The ones wearing masks faces' changed to take a more realistic appearance of their masks. Then some of them started to scream while the kids who looked more evil attacked the one who had been giving candy. The person shoved the 'kids' away and closed the door.

"Please tell me you believe me now," Xander nearly pleaded while holding up another three CDs "One of these is more movies and pictures while the other two are a database of demons with their weaknesses and a picture if its available."

As soon as Carter verified the authenticity of the images. General Hammond went to his office to make a little call on the red phone.

"Greetings Mr. President as I've told you over the past few days there has been a lot of commotion around here. I've finally collected all the information needed to give my full report," the general declared.

"As always George I only want the reports when you've got all the necessary information. Though I am surprised you're calling me just to give your full report. This must have been something big," the president stated.

"As I told you earlier Mr. President we were exposed to a dangerous biological agent which had been contained in the artifact we got from P5C-353. Once we learned that the agent was sentient and we communicated with it the being peacefully left through the Stargate to an uninhabited planet."

"Yes, you told me that yesterday George. But seeing as you're calling me now I'm guessing there's more to it," the commander and chief said.

"Yes Mr. President The reason we were able to communicate with the being was because it gained the ability to form a human-like form after coming in contact with the teenage son of my second in command," the general explained.

"How may I ask did a teenage boy get into one of the most secure bases on earth and how did he get all the way to the most secure part of that base?" the president asked with confusion clear in his voice.

"He was actually on base for a paternity test. But, before he could leave, the base went into lock-down and he was placed into one of the guest quarters under guard," George Hammond quickly told the entire story of Xander's escape and the resulting encounter with the alien entity.

The president listened to the story and asked, "How did an American teen get these abilities? Are we sure he's human?"

"Actually sir that is the most disturbing part about this whole affair. I know this is going to sound insane…" Hammond stated only to be interrupted by the president stating, "doesn't it always?"

Realizing he was getting too accustomed to the strange life at the SGC he turned back to the phone. "Yes, sir. Anyway it seems and we've had this confirmed that the boy is human and he got his abilities through the effects of magic. Now I know that we've encountered things which to people with a lesser understanding of science would have seemed like magic. But, in this case we can confirm the existence of magic and creatures which would normally belong in fantasy books."

"What evidence would this be?" the president asked seriously.

"At first I did not believe the boy. But, the next day a man who identified himself as Hal Rain delivered several CDs which contained several movies showing security and private footage of what could only be described as the supernatural."

"Who is aware to this information?" the president asked quickly.

Thinking back George realized that by now nearly the entire base had seen some of the content of those CDs or at least heard about them. "A large part of my command staff and nearly all the scientists under my command."

"Listen closely George knowledge of the supernatural's existence can't spread any further. There's an agency dedicated to studying and fighting this threat and that's all I'm going to reveal about it. I'm giving you and anyone in the know the order to not reveal anything about the subject."

"I understand sir. But what about the boy, Xander? According to him he gets confronted by these things on a daily basis and as a civilian I have no authority over him," Hammond asked.

"Where the hell does this Xander live? According to our sources these things are rare."

"Sunnydale California," Hammond recited from memory.

The president sighed. "Ah yes that would explain it. We've recently discovered it to be a hotspot. Just ask him to stay quiet about everything. The Pentagon will send someone over to talk to him."

Jack found his son in Carter's lab. They were actually discussing something he barely understood a word of. Something to do with quantum and the power source that alien device used while Xander was flipping through one of Carter's books.

"I just can't find the right words to express it. I can give the you the complete math and equations behind the damn thing. But Some of the constants and physic values have no name in the English language that I know of," Xander said with a clear tone of annoyance.

"What are you two doing?" Jack said trying to sound like a father who just found his kid with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh, sir. Xander was explaining how the alien's power source worked. He says that he could actually build one. Can you imagine. A power source that lasts for hundreds of thousands of years without creating any radioactive byproducts or needing any refueling after it's creation."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous and do we even have the required materials for building something that advanced?"

Looking up Xander smiled at his dad. "Actually it needs to be built on a molecular level and before you ask, yes I can build it using my cells. I'm just having trouble explaining the science behind it. It could even be that there are no words in the English language that define some of these terms and scientific values. "

"Hey doesn't that mean you get to name the unit of measurement?"Jack quickly asked. Getting a goofy smile on his face. "Name one after me."

"I'll think about it. But, first I need to make sure they don't already exist," Xander replied with an equally goofy grin.

Over the following twenty hours no one was able make Carter leave her lab. Xander had gone through all her books and checked the Internet and had found only some of the terms and units needed in obscure theoretical scientific papers. After that he'd started to type up the entire report on the physics behind the power source and how it worked. Only when he delivered that would he be allowed to make one of the power sources. At one point nearly the entire science staff was in the room going over his work. Finally Jack had to escort Sam back to her quarters for mandatory rest. Xander meanwhile used Sam's computer to take a look at all the mission reports from all the SG teams.

'Bunch of mind controlling snakes with delusions of godhood and a flair for dramatics… Germs that turn people into Neanderthals… Crystal based life forms, cool… Space hippies. Probably evolved from trees… Wow, fast aging because of nanites... [See if we can get a sample] His subconscious suggested. The Aesir turn out to be Roswell Grays calling themselves The Asgard, Willow is going to freak… Merpeople… Robo SG-1 as if they're going to stay put on that planet… They've had an interesting couple of years around here,' Xander concluded.

Xander had just finished going over his report on the power source when an airman came to get him. Apparently they were finally going to give him the nondisclosure papers so he could finally leave the mountain. Not that he didn't enjoy discussing science with Sam or history with Daniel. But, he wanted to teach his dad some control of his newfound powers and help complete his transformation. He was barely at ten percent of his full transformation and even then Jack had already broken several doors and the keypad of the elevator because of his increasing strength.

Reaching one of the secondary briefing/interrogation rooms Xander saw that Jack was already present along with another man who stood up as Xander entered. "Greetings mister Harris I'm major Paul Davis. I'm here to debrief you and make sure you sign this nondisclosure agreement," the major said while holding up a rather large stack of papers. "If possible I'd prefer you sign it first. Afterwards we can go over everything."

"I'm actually thinking of having it changed to O'Neill," Xander said while sitting down. This brought a smile to Jack's face.

Xander quickly read through the NDA and signed where needed. Looking up he saw that someone was behind the one-way glass. "Who's the person behind the glass looking at us?"

Paul looked startled. "That would be doctor Maggie Walsh. She's here to ask some questions regarding the supernatural. She's part of the Initiative an agency dedicated to fighting and studying the supernatural."

"And why is she behind the glass?" Xander asked again.

"Because I couldn't tell you that before you signed the papers," the major replied.

Xander was basically given the full story of the discovery and history of the Stargate and some of the missions. Xander tried to show interest at the appropriate moments. Although he had already read about everything in far greater detail in the reports he did not want to say it and get into trouble. The real interesting part was after the major finished.

"Now that you've been debriefed on the Stargate we, the government that is would like to offer you a job working either here at the mountain or at area 51," the major stated.

"What? You want me to start work at a top secret military facility? Wouldn't I at least have to go through boot camp or the air force academy?" Xander asked, surprised that the government would want to hire a teenager, even a super powered teenager.

"From what you've told us you have the combined knowledge of hundreds of military personnel including scientists, pilots and marines of different ranks. Now thanks to the Orb-alien you've gained valuable scientific knowledge. Add to this your physical abilities and you'd be a great asset," Davis suggested.

"Let me stop you right there Davis. He's only seventeen which means he needs parental consent to join the military. I sure as hell aren't going to give it and I doubt his mom is going to give it," Jack said from next to Xander.


	12. Chapter 12

**12. Chapter 12**

Maggie Walsh turned to her voice recorder and started talking, "this is doctor Maggie Walsh interviewing Xander Harris possibly O'Neill in the future on the 7th of July concerning subject's involvement with the supernatural." Turning to Xander she got right down to business. "Now mister Harris, how is it that a civilian such as yourself came to have such extensive knowledge of Hostile Subterrestrials?"

"Call me Xander. What do you mean with Hostile Subterrestrials? If you mean demons and other supernatural creatures I feel obligated to point out that they're not all hostile."

"Well in our experience they've all been dangerous and violent and you yourself explained that there is a scientific basis for these creatures. But back to my original question. Where did you get your data from. Your database is by far the best source of real information on the subject that I've seen so far…" Dr. Walsh droned on.

Noting the way her tone changed when she said violent Xander continued. "Believe it or not my main source of information were the books at my high school library. The rest, by which I mean the pictures and observations were personal observations when I encountered the different beings," Xander explained. In reality the pictures came from Hal's memory from when he accompanied the Scoobies on patrol.

"I find it hard to believe that any high school library would carry books of such a nature," the doctor stated.

"Well they were donated by a collector of rare and old books. After his death the books were donated to his old high school," Xander said using the cover story Giles had told him that was to be if anyone should ever ask about the books.

"We'll look into that. You're from Sunnydale California is that correct?" the doctor continued.

"Yes, that's my hometown," Xander replied.

"Yes, your hometown. We've recently been made aware of how much of a hotspot your hometown is. But, to actually find all these different species so close together. For reasons we have yet to determine people visiting or in the vicinity of Sunnydale have trouble seeing and remembering creatures and HST related occurrences. The only exceptions being people with extensive previous experience with this sort of thing. How were you able to perceive the truth of your hometown?" The doctors tone becoming a mixture of obsessive and curious.

"I lost one of my friends to a vampire attack. They turned him and I confronted him later. By accident I staked him after which I saw him turn to dust right before my eyes. That's not something you can just forget about," Xander retorted.

Jack who was simply sitting next to Xander couldn't help immediately thinking of Charles Kowalsky and Skaa'ra and how he'd lost his friends to the Goa'uld.

"Are you aware of the reason for people forgetting what they have witnessed?" the doctor continued.

"At first me and some friends thought it was simply people refusing to come to terms with what they've seen. We assumed that at least some people knew what was out there and were simply repressing it. That theory went out the window when a friend's mom was exposed on several occasions to supernatural events and shortly after started to repress the events. Seeing as this woman is not the kind to back away from anything we decided it had to be something else. So whatever was causing people to forget or repress, it wasn't voluntary. Now the primary suspect in this would be what is called a hellmouth, it's literally a connection between this dimension and dimensions which could collectively be labeled as hell. This hellmouth excretes large amounts of evil and dark energies. This is also the reason for the large amounts of demonic activity in Sunnydale. But, if what you're saying is true and people sent to investigate are forgetting things after such a short exposure there has to be at least a secondary reason," Xander concluded.

This immediately caught doctor Walsh's attention. "Why are these creatures attracted to it. Does it perform some sort of function to sustain them? Is it something they require to survive?"

"Most might become stronger by being close to it. But they don't need it to survive or anything. The craziest and the dumbest usually want to open it and unleash hell on earth," Xander said in a tone that made it clear that talking about the end of the world was a common event in his daily life.

After Xander shared that news both Jack and Maggie were dumbstruck. "They want to bring around the end of the world? Why? What could they possibly get out of it?" Walsh asked in total shock.

"I did say the dumbest and the craziest. The only possible thing I can think of is the reputation they would gain and rank in the new hell on earth. Most demons even the regular evil ones prefer the world as it is. If the hellmouth would be opened they would go from big fish in a lake to guppies in the ocean most of them wouldn't want it," Xander concluded.

"Are you aware of the location of this hellmouth and any methods of permanently closing it?" the doctor asked.

'Should I tell her?' Xander thought to himself. [There's nothing they can do to help and I wouldn't trust them with the location,] his subconscious replied. "All I know is that it's somewhere underground in the vicinity of my high school," Xander said, willing to at least trust them with that much.

Jack looked up at this. "So your school is literally over the mouth of hell. A lot of teenagers say that but for it to actually be true."

"It used to be hell on earth under the old principal. But, now with G-man as the principal it has become a much better place," Xander said with a small smile gracing his lips.

"You call your principal G-man?" Jack asked with clear humor.

"Not to his face. He hates that nickname. He used to be the school librarian and my friends and me spend a lot of time in the library, it's kind of our hangout," Xander said. While he was starting to trust Jack and the SGC it wasn't his place to tell the US government Buffy's and Giles' secrets.

"Can we get back to the point at hand," doctor Walsh said impatiently. "Do you know of any way to disable or shut down this hellmouth?" Walsh said with a tone of annoyance.

"The only thing I've found so far is a reference to an amulet of cleansing. It bestows power to its bearer who must have a soul but has to be stronger than a normal human. The worst part is that you have to open the hellmouth and enter it for the amulet to start working. The only description of this amulet is of a golden chain with a flawless diamond in the pendant." After saying this Xander started to laugh slightly and it was clearly not one of joy. "Of course a couple of millennia ago that might have been enough of a description to find it but these days with the amount of jewelry in existence it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Over the next several hours Maggie Walsh continued to question Xander. Asking him about specific species of demon and their abilities and even asking some questions several times in different ways. When the interview was over Xander was finally allowed to go home with Jack. Later that night they went to a local restaurant O'Malley's together with the rest of SG-1.

They were just digging into their steaks when Xander turned to his father. "After this we're going to have to pay a visit to a local farm with cattle," Xander suggested.

The members of SG-1 simply stared at Xander while he continued eating. "Why?" they said in near unison, except for Teal'c whom only lifted an eyebrow.

"Ever since your transformation started you've been stuck under a mountain only eating food from the mess hall three times a days with the occasional snack none of that stuff is rich in energy, except for the snacks and even then it doesn't contain all the materials your body needs. That has seriously slowed down the change," Xander said in-between bites of his steak.

"I've been breaking stuff all week because I've suddenly become stronger you call that slowed down?" Jack asked.

"Yes, normally your nervous system and reflexes should have advanced at an equal speed as your muscular system. You also need to absorb a lot of metal for most of you offensive and defensive abilities," Xander explained.

This piqued Carter's interest. "How exactly does your body handle the metal. I don't know of any creature where you could have picked that ability up from."

"I got it from Alex and he got it from diatom algae. Their cellular walls are almost completely made up of silicon. But instead of silicon my body takes in metals from my surroundings such as iron, tungsten, titanium, molybdenum and several other. These metallic coated cells are kept under the cells that acts as a normal skin and when I need my claws or my armor they move outward and form a scaly hide made of scales 200 micrometers large each. The cells are connected by nanofibers giving them flexibility and freedom of movement for me."

"Please tell me I'm not going to have to start eating pieces of metal?" Jack exclaimed. The though nearly made him lose his appetite, almost that is.

"You could if you wanted to really speed up the absorption rate. But, most of the necessary metals can come straight from your food. Also any metal you come in contact with will be slowly absorbed through the skin."

Later that night Xander and Jack stopped at a local farm where Jack consumed a cow from the herd. Afterwards they put a couple of thousand dollars in the mailbox at the end of the drive.

The next day General Hammond, captain Carter, master sergeant Siler and several other scientist and base personnel were having a weekly briefing.

"All right captain Carter please commence," General Hammond acknowledged Sam in her role as the base's chief scientist.

"Thank you Sir. We're here today to discuss implementing the new power source proposed by Alexander Harris and some of the upgrades he suggested. The other physicists and I have all gone over his explanation of the device and we've made a formal proposal to implement the device," Sam said respectfully.

"Currently over 30% of our operating budget in the past year, was spent simply on powering and maintaining the base and the Stargate. That also includes all the replacement parts used in the electrical system after the occasional power surge or overload and the man-hours that take up these repairs. Which amounts to over 2 billion dollars in expenses," sergeant Siler said in his role as head of base and gate maintenance.

"What would be the cost of implementing this new power source?" Hammond said slowly, already knowing the costs of running the base.

"Well, Sir. Xander would require several pounds of nearly pure chemicals including carbon, aluminum, titanium, tungsten and roughly three liquid naquadah power cells from staff weapons. All in all it would cost a couple of hundred dollars in materials. He's also given instructions and schematics for a pedestal for the power source to fit in when we hook it up to the power grid," Sam read from a file.

"Are there any negative side effects to this power source?" Hammond asked curiously. He expected there to be some sort of catch involved.

"As Xander explains it the Orb-alien studied the DHD on their world and from that they evolved a crystal and organic based form of technology. After several hundred years they came up with this type of power source. The power source's appearance would be that of a giant diamond roughly the size of a large housecat. It will last for thousands of years, need no fuel and give off no radiation or byproducts. It gets it's energy from extracting zero point energy from an artificial region of subspace-time. By extracting this energy it destabilizes this pocket until it reaches maximum entropy and then it runs out of power. The danger lies in the fact that if the shell is broken while the device is actively extracting power it could destroy the planet," Sam said this last part with clear reverence.

Hammond was shocked but still curious. Even though the devise would be dangerous he still had one question. "How could something like a diamond be broken?"

"Well sir if the base's self-destruct mechanism should be activated too close to the power source the blast could be enough to break the shell. We could overcome this by adding the shutdown of the devise to the self-destruct program," Sam placated.

"Captain, if you can guarantee the safety of this device then I will approve its creation and implementation. It would go a long way to convince the people in Washington that we're really getting something out of this project. Now, were there any other suggestions the boy made?" General Hammond asked the room.

Siler took this one. "Well sir he suggested that we upgrade the base's wiring with a ceramic superconducting wire so we can avoid power surges and damage to the overall electrical system."

"I wasn't aware that this kind of material was available. I do remember that the superconductors used on the Stargate were very expensive," the general stated with confusion.

"No, it's not sir. Several universities are still researching the possibilities to create something like this. But, Xander is aware of the formula to make it and he's willing to produce it for us. All we would need to pay for is to have it shipped by truck from California," Sam answered.

"Wouldn't him producing this outside of military control and oversight be a breach of the NDA?" asked Hammond.

"That was one of the first things I asked him sir. Apparently the NDA clearly prohibits the use of information or technology gained by going through the Stargate along with the legal obligation to not mention anything concerning the project unless permission is given by the Pentagon or higher. Apparently the NDA was written with the standard loophole that any information gained from another source i.e. not the Stargate program or anyone involved with it would not be covered by the NDA. As Xander gained the information from the Orb-alien while he was on base but not in the employ of the project or anyone involved he can freely use the information he gained," Sam said with a slight smirk, indicating that she thought it kind of funny that a seventeen year old had found a loophole in a document that had been written up by the best legal minds the US government employed.

"I see," the general said with a slight smirk. "I'll agree to it for the moment. We'll have to look into it later. Anything else?"

"No, sir." The room declared.

"Dismissed people," the general ordered.


	13. Chapter 13

**13. Chapter 13**

A/N: I would like to point out to Zarachek that I can't answer his messages. You're personal messages are turned off. I would also like to thank my loyal readers and reviewers.

After consuming a cow. An action Jack O'Neill never would have thought to do, he and Xander went back to his house where they watched the Simpsons for the rest of the night. When the sun started to rise the next morning, he was amazed at the fact that he barely felt tired. Turning to his recently discovered son he simply asked, "is this how you spend all your nights?"

"No, after dinner with my mom I usually start with going on patrol looking for vampires and demons who are up to no good. This is usually in the company of my friends. Now that we're finally off base I can talk a little more about them. After getting caught on camera that first time I didn't want them catching the military's attention. After the patrol I usually read, watch movies and every now and then I spend time on my computer. I'm nowhere near as good as Willow or Hal at programming and hacking." Seeing his father's look he quickly added. "Don't worry we're not stealing anything or causing trouble. We just hack into the county morgue's computer and the city hall's computer so we can find information necessary to fight the current Big Bad."

"The current Big Bad. I wish you didn't have to go through that. You're a teenager for god's sake you should be worrying about high school and girls not demons and the end of the world!" Jack nearly ranted.

Xander noticing the darker mood of his father and tried to lighten the mood. "Actually, I haven't had much luck with girls. So far the first woman who showed any interest in me turned out to be a giant praying mantis who wanted to mate with me and then kill me.

"Ouch," Jack said, immediately switching from sad and angry to pity and humor. Before he could reassure Xander, the boy continued.

"After that came the beautiful foreign exchange student from Peru who turned out to be a life sucking, cursed Incan mummy. The upside was that she actually fell in love with me," Xander said with a slight smile while thinking of Ampata.

"You call that an upside?" Jack asked curiously.

"Sure, the mantis lady only wanted me for my body, while the mummy girl wanted me for my personality. And if I can believe the things Daniel and Teal'c say about your luck with women it might actually be genetic. There was Hathor, there was that girl that drugged you with marriage-pie so you would stay with her do I need to go on?" Xander half threatened, half joked.

"Fine you don't mention my love life and I won't ask about yours, deal?" Jack quickly suggested.

"Deal," Xander agreed before looking at the clock next to the TV. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for work?"

"Yeah, if the general okays the new power source I'll call you," Jack agreed.

"All right. You've got my cell phone number, right?" after getting a confirmative nod Xander went back to watching TV.

By noon Jack called to tell that Hammond had given consent and that all the necessary chemicals had been collected. To great complaint from the base's scientists who were now missing components for their own tests and research. After a short drive and three security checks later Xander was back at Stargate Command.

"Ok, all I need now is a bathtub, an insulated heating element or some other way to heat up the bath and the chemicals."

"Why would you need those things?" Carter asked truly surprised by the request.

"I'll show you," Xander answered enigmatically.

They quickly put everything on a cart and wheeled it into the large bathroom near the infirmary. Jack stopped for a moment at the door. Remembering how Hathor used the bath at the center of this room for her Goa'uld larvae.

"This should do the trick," Xander said after a few moments of examining the tub. He quickly filled the tub two thirds of the way up, then he set the temperature to slightly higher than body temperature and poured al the chemicals in the water. Carter and Jack simply staring and following his actions.

"Now you might be asking what I'm up to? The answer is simple," Xander said while stepping into the tub his skin rippling in red and black. "Doing this by which I mean building something on this scale costs energy and time." Now lying down. "My body absorbs the heat from the water and uses it to keep my cells going. This will also be more efficient than eating in between and a lot less dangerous than using electrical current to supply the energy." While saying this it looked like Xander was melting. Large amounts of his cells were coming loose from his body until it looked like he was nothing but dark red skin and bone.

Looking closer at Xander's neck Carter noticed something that looked like plates under his skin. "Xander what's that on your neck?" she couldn't help but ask.

Xander's eyes were closed, if one would look into the tub they would be amazed to see something resembling a human body with skin that looked more red and black than pink wearing no clothes. But, the strangest thing would be the mass of small tentacles constantly moving through the water. These were absorbing the chemicals which were then transported to the legs where a mass of cells was forming. "They're bone plates. They make sure that no one can decapitate me. I'm going to need to concentrate here and it'll take a couple of days. So if I stop responding to you guys don't presume the worst," Xander assured them.

Over the following three days Jack spent more of his time keeping Xander company than doing his paperwork as he should be doing. Only leaving for short amounts of time and leaving the base once to go consume a cow. The mass between Xander's shins and knees had at first grown at a near exponential rate doubling in size every two hours. But by the end of the first day the growing began to slow down to a snail's pace. Meanwhile things at Stargate Command continued as usual, teams went through the Stargate and explored new worlds and met new people. When Xander awoke he was met with the familiar sound of the alarms blaring.

Sergeant Harriman was heard saying his iconic phrase. "Unscheduled off world activation."

"Another day at the SGC apparently," Xander quickly said while he retook his normal form wearing clothes and took his new creation with him. He ran down two flights of stairs to reach the level containing the Stargate. Arriving at the same moment that the alarm stopped. When he reached the embarkation room he saw his dad and the rest of SG-1 greeting an old man who was wearing metal armor and carrying a staff weapon. Teal'c clearly looked distraught.

"Dad is everything ok?" he asked while approaching Jack.

"Xander. It's good to see you up and around," Jack said before turning back to the matter at hand, "No, master Bra'tac is the bringer of bad news. Apparently something's wrong with Teal'c's son."

"So this is the fabled Bra'tac," Xander said while looking the old Jaffa over he could clearly see the signs of a wise and hardened warrior.

Meanwhile Bra'tac told Teal'c that his son had been taken by Appophis.

'Wasn't he dead?' Xander thought upon hearing that news. [Don't believe it until you see them die,] his subconscious concluded. Turning to the old Jaffa he bowed his head and spoke."Tek ma te master Bra'tac. It is an honor to meet such a wise and great Jaffa master. Teal'c speaks very highly of you. I was under the impression that Appophis was killed when his mothership exploded?"

"Greetings son of O'Neill. It appears that he survived by means of the Stargate aboard his ship," the grizzled old warrior said.

"Might we continue this in the briefing room. Xander I would prefer it that you not join in. I'm disregarding procedure as it is by allowing you on base and near the Stargate," Hammond said from the side.

"Alright sir. But, I will need the help of Sergeant Siler so I can activate the power source and hook it up to the base's power grid," Xander said while lifting the giant gem in the air.

"You have it," the general said.

"So Sylvester. I can call you Sylvester right?" Xander asked Sergeant Siler.

"Sure, you're not in the military so it's fine," the sergeant said while walking to the main power distribution hub. "Over here," he said while pointing to the door next to the main breaker room.

"Is everything set up?" Xander asked. Only now realizing that he hadn't asked if the pedestal had been made to his specifications.

"Yeah, made it myself, the pedestal has been set up according to your specifications. We used the same superconductors as we used on the Stargate for the contact points on the base of the pedestal for the power source," he said while pointing at the aforementioned object. "Is that thing really a diamond?" the sergeant found himself asking.

"The main body has pretty much the same chemical composition as a yellow diamond, the green as an emerald, the red as a ruby and the lattice surrounding the entire thing is a titanium-naquadah mesh. The green and red crystal work together to regulate the power flow and the rest acts as a buffer," Xander explained while he placed the giant crystal cylinder in the pedestal and connected the sensors that were hooked up to a monitor. "Showtime," he muttered before he pushed the crystal down and Sergeant Siler flipped the switch. For a few seconds all the lights on base dimmed slightly as all the power on base was rerouted into what some of the base scientists had started to call a ZeroPointModule. The ZPM started to glow from within as it was activated and started to generate power. Within seconds the lights across the base were back on and the SGC was off the grid.


	14. Chapter 14

**14. Chapter 14**

SG-1, General Hammond and Bra'tac were discussing the reasons and motives for Apophis taking Rya'c, Teal'c's son. When the power fluctuated for a few seconds and then came back to normal. When no alarms went off they assumed Siler and Xander were successful in hooking up the ZPM.

General Hammond came to the conclusion. "This is clearly at trap."

"Yes, sir and in knowing its a trap we can avoid it. He's vulnerable right now. Most of his troops were killed on those two ships. We can go get Teal'c's kid and nail this mother... Goa'uld in one sweep," Jack said.

"Teal'c you originally withheld information about your family because you feared it would make you vulnerable. Well it has and I want this to be the last time. Colonel you have a go. Get Apophis if you can, but the prime directive of this mission is to bring Teal'c's family back with you to Earth."

"Yes, Sir," SG-1 said in unison.

After suiting up Jack went to see Xander before he went on the mission. "We're going after Teal'c's family so I'll probably be back by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. Look I'm sorry your vacation up till now has been mostly spent under a mountain."

"Don't worry I've still got more than a month. The question is if you still have vacation time left?" Xander asked jokingly.

"Seeing as I never left to start my vacation I'm pretty sure I've got some left. See you when I get back," Jack said while starting for the door

"Yeah see you later dad." It felt really good to say that to a man he actually liked and respected. As a joke he added, "bring me back a souvenir."

For the rest of the day Xander visited The Pioneers Museum and made a long phone call home.

The Stargate on Chulack would most likely be guarded so as a precaution SG-1 sent knockout gas through first. When they along with master Bra'tac passed through the gate they found several Jaffa guards unconscious. After getting rid of the gas canisters they were on their way. With master Bra'tac guiding them they took the roads less traveled and reached Tealc's wife's house after a good hour's walk.

"How could she afford such a home?" Teal'c asked.

"I do not know." Master Bra'tac confessed.

Jack had a bad feeling. Which was only a few minutes later confirmed to be rightly so. It appeared that in Teal'c's absence Drey'auc had remarried so that their son, Rya'c could enjoy a decent home life. Jack couldn't blame her but it was also clear that her new husband an old friend of Teal'c's named Fro'tak really loved her and that she did not fully reciprocate. Seeing the look of betrayal and anger on Teal'c's normally stoic face only further told him that there would be problems ahead.

After going over the map Fro'tak had made of the west wing of the palace the team had decided to enter it at nightfall through the entrance normally reserved for the changing of the guard to minimize the chance of being spotted. Everything was going as planned, which in itself should have warned Jack. 'Only two guards and Apophis is most likely expecting us. This doesn't fit.'

After subduing the guards with zats they opened the door expecting to find a grateful Rya'c. They were shocked that the boy started to scream for the guards as soon as he realized who they were. This immediately caught the attention of the other guards in the western wing. As such they were forced to flee. But not before Jack grabbed Rya'c and easily carried him in one arm and covering his mouth with his free hand. 'This kid has been seriously brainwashed,' Jack said while dodging bolts of plasma.

An hour later the group returned to Fro'tak's house after evading the guards in the woods who were surrounding the capital city on Chulak.

"My child. You have returned me my child," Drey'auc rejoiced while she ran to Jack on seeing him carrying Rya'c. As soon as Jack removed his hand from the boy's mouth he started to scream. "Let me go ha'taaka. Return me to Apophis, shol'va."

Jack quickly put his hand back over Rya'c's mouth.

Teal'c looked towards Drey'auc with a look of utter despair. "Rya'c's body remains but his hart has been destroyed."

"Stop talking like that Teal'c the boy's been brainwashed not killed," Jack quickly spoke up before Drey'auc became more distraught.

"What is this brainwashing?" Teal'c said with a glint of hope in his eyes.

"Seeing as it has been done over a period of a few days, its most likely he was put under the influence of some kind of drug that altered his mind. Al we have to do is deprogram the kid. Though it's not the kind of thing you'd want to put a child through," Jack reassured the distraught parents.

"What does this deprogramming entail O'Neill?" Teal'c said with hope in his voice.

"We need to constantly confront Rya'c with things that would remind him of before the time his mind was altered and things that contradict his new beliefs instilled in him by Apophis. If this doesn't work we'll have to consider more extreme measures including ECT and drugs," Jack explained going over his own memories of his time in black ops. "Either way we need to do this in a safe environment which we can't do here with the chance of serpentguards knocking on the door."

"We shall rest for the night and head for the Stargate in the morning," Master Bra'tac advised.

Rya'c was tied up and gagged so he wouldn't attract attention from neighbors and the possible passing jaffa.

Later that night Jack was keeping an eye on Fro'tak. When he in turn saw his wife in the arms of Teal'c. 'I knew this was going to be a problem,' Jack thought. Jack was unable to stop Fro'tak in the open with too many people around and followed him to the palace by moving over the rooftops of the jaffa homes. Once there Fro'tak approached the guards guarding the main entrance. 'How the hell am I going to take these guys out without waking up the entire palace? What I wouldn't do for a sniper rifle,' Jack thought while becoming more nervous. The guards and Fro'tak entered the palace most likely to get reinforcements before going back to the house. This left the front entrance unguarded and Jack followed them. After several hallways and seeing no other guards Jack grabbed his knife and threw it at the neck of one of the two guards while shooting the other guard twice with his zat. Fro'tak immediately started to run. "Stop Fro'tak. Come along quietly and I promise I won't harm you. It doesn't have to be this way," Jack nearly begged the jaffa.

"Never, that kresh'taa deserves to be punished for her infidelity with the sholva," Fro'tak yelled back while he quickly went through a doorway to try and evade Jack. Whom was only a few steps behind him.

Once inside the room Jack came to a dead stop. 'Oh dammit!' In front of Fro'tak and Jack stood Apophis along with three of his guards by his side. Jack knew that with only his zat out he had no chance of winning this. Thinking back to what Xander had shown him he thought of his natural weaponry and if it might be ready yet. His hands felt a little strange and he watched them turn into claws. This startled the guards who then fired their staffs at what they perceived as dangerous intruders. Fro'tak was hit in the chest and died almost instantly. Jack tried to dodge the shots aimed at him and was able to dodge one but not the other which hit him center mass. He fell to the ground and his zat went skidding across the floor. The guards believing both the intruders dead deactivated their staff weapons. Jack jumped back up and used his claws on the nearest Jaffa. Lifting the guard's arm and shoving his right claw through the guard's chainmail and into the underlying organs.

The remaining two guards moved closer while Apophis activated his personal shield and readied his hand device in case the Tau'ri tried to attack him. Apophis also noticed that the burn caused by the plasma from the staff weapon was nearly gone and healed. 'A hok'tar I will have him as a host,' Apophis thought before commanding, "Jaffa, subdue the Tau'ri."

While Jack was fighting one of the two remaining guards the other reactivated his staff and prepared to fire waiting for a clear shot. The other tried to physically overpower Jack assuming that as a Jaffa he could easily take on a simple human wearing strange gauntlets. Jack simply evaded his punches and shoved his claws into the Jaffa's back severing the spinal cord and piercing the lungs. But, as that one fell the other guard shot Jack several times at point blank range with his staff. Though severely wounded Jack was able to grab the staff and point it away from him to prevent further hits. Taking one quick step he threw his claws forward. While the Jaffa was able to deflect Jack's right claw which was headed for his enemy's abdomen his left claw went through the last guard's eye sockets and into his brain.

Turning towards Apophis Jack spoke. Wounds were already starting to knit together and disappear. "You think that shield is going to protect you? I know it only protects you from fast moving objects, you slimy little snake," Jack insulted.

Lowering his shield Apophis immediately unleashed a blast from his hand device and pushed Jack back a few steps instead of throwing him across the room as was Apophis' plan. Thanks to the same ability that allows Xander and him to stick to walls. Before Apophis could unleash another blast Jack tackled him to the floor. Jack was severely weakened from healing all his wounds and knew that those hand devises had other attacks that he was not so sure about being able to handle and stay conscious. On instinct more than conscious though Jack consumed Apophis. All that was left of his enemy was his golden shaded armor and hand device. Once he regained his senses Jack grabbed Apophis' hand device just in case he needed the personal shield and used the guards' zats to disintegrate the corpses of the guards and Fro'tak. Taking one last look around the room to make sure he did not leave a trace he finally noticed the giant metallic ball that was the long range visual communication device hovering next to the wall closest to where Jack stood. 'The thing is hovering and showing my own reflection. which if I remember correctly means it's active... D'oh!'  
-

[Earlier]

Across Apophis' territory and the planet Chulak the population turned towards the metal spheres their god and master used to directly talk to them and spread his commands. Apophis was talking about his power to conquer evil and forgive transgression. How rumors of his defeat were nothing more than lies told by people who would destroy them. He was also offering a reward of one million shista for Teal'c and another million for those with him. Carter was more interested in the fact that the Goa'uld apparently used long range visual communication devices the same way as politicians on earth, to spread propaganda. Daniel was more interested in the social consequences of Apophis' image and message being broadcasted into any home. Immediately after finishing his tirade a noise was heard. Apophis moved which increased the field of vision to include a part of the background and show more of the room. In the ensuing fight and death of Apophis all witnessed how Jack O'Neill survived staffblasts seemingly unharmed and the death of their god. The only rather lame thought in Carter's mind was. 'That explains where Fro'tak and the Colonel went'.

What none of SG-1 realized was that by killing a Goa'uld system lord live in front of an audience of millions of Jaffa and humans Jack had unintentionally achieved godhood according to customs of the Goa'uld. If the other Goa'uld denied it and decreed that he was just a human then the population at large would start to question how anything but another god could kill a god. Which would eventually lead to revolution. Thus hey would decree that he was an evil god, a beast that could devour weak Goa'uld. This way they safeguarded their followers belief in them and further implied the idea that Apophis was weak.

It was nearly dawn when Jack returned. As soon as he returned he explained about Fro'tak's treachery. Not mentioning the fact that he had seen Teal'c and Drey'auc together hoping to reduce Drey'auc's guilt over the whole thing.

"Sir, are you aware that everything that happened was transmitted across Chulak and most likely the rest of Apophis' domain?"

"As a matter of fact I was just hoping he was making a call to someone," Jack replied feeling even more like an idiot. Turning towards master Bra'tac. "How does this affect our exit strategy?"

"In the wake of Apophis' demise the gate will be left unguarded and the remaining Jaffa will gather at the palace to await their new god's commands," Bra'tac answered.

"And who would this new snake be?" Jack asked curiously.

"Seeing as you have not claimed command of your defeated enemy's forces they will go to his son Klorel or one of Apophis' underlings," Bra'tac theorized.

In utter shock Jack turned towards Bra'tac and asked, "I could claim Apophis' forces and domain?"

"Well as a human normally no. But a large part of Goa'uld society revolves around them supposedly being gods and being all powerful. The only acknowledgement of a god's death to the people is when he was killed by another Goa'uld. Now that you, a human have killed one of them with your bare hands nonetheless . It would send the message that humans can kill gods and that is something they would never allow. Though I would not suggest claiming anything. The other system lords would collectively come after you the second you took control," Bra'tac warned.

"The thought never crossed my mind," Jack reassured the old Jaffa.

After packing their most precious possessions into an ornate wooden chest Drey'auc followed SG-1, Teal'c who was carrying a squirming Rya'c and master Bra'tac.

"Why do I have to carry this chest?" Jack asked holding up the chest that was nearly as big as him.

"Well sir you did say you'd help her carry her stuff."

"I was thinking a simple bag with some clothes and maybe some memorabilia or a photoalbum. Not her entire wardrobe and her son's."

As master Bra'tac had speculated the gate was unguarded and once the GDO's light turned green they all went through to earth while master Bra'tac stayed behind saying that it was now the perfect time to look for more Jaffa who had lost their belief in the Goa'uld's divinity.

"Welcome back SG-1 I see the mission was successful," General Hammond said with a slight smile on seeing his premier team along with Teal'c's family coming through the gate.

"On both accounts sir. We managed to kill Apophis," Jack answered with unrestrained glee.

"I look forward to your report colonel. After the necessary medical checks of course. Why is the boy being restrained?" the general asked on noticing how Rya'c was being held.

"He's been brainwashed, sir," Jack answered with his glee all but gone.

A sad look appeared on the General's face. He turned to Drey'auc. "I'm sorry to hear that, mam."

Upon entering the infirmary Janet turned to Jack and asked, "so colonel should I be expecting any new surprises from you? "

"I'll most likely have some naquadah in my blood and you might detect some foreign proteins going through my system," Jack answered honestly.

Janet simply stared at her most frequent patient. He always got infected or was exposed to some strange alien object but this was strange even for him. "How did this happen?"

"I consumed Apophis. You've said on earlier occasions that Goa'uld and their hosts contain small amounts of naquadah, so I can conclude I have some."

"Why would you even consider consuming him?" Janet asked with a rather disgusted look.

Jack looked slightly apologetic. "I was shot multiple times with a staff weapon so I was a little out of it by then. I just wanted to kill the bastard for everything he has done."

"I'll have to do an MRI to confirm that you haven't been taken as a host," Janet said.

"Oh, no. Not the MRI," Jack quickly exclaimed. Looking around to make sure there wasn't one near.

Thinking she might need to call for the airmen Janet calmly asked, "and why shouldn't I do an MRI scan?"

"The amount of iron in my body has gone up by several orders of magnitude. I'm afraid that if I got anywhere near an MRI I'd probably get stuck to the side of the damned thing," Jack said with what appeared to be reverence for the incredibly powerful magnet.

"Fine we'll do an ultrasound and an X-ray scan and as your physician I should be kept in the loop on any further changes in your physiology," Janet semi threatened.

"Fine doc. Anything you say," Jack acknowledged to the all powerful wielder of the needle.

After everyone was cleared Jack made a call to Xander to tell him he was back from his trip and that they were going for pizza tonight. While Teal'c, his wife along with Janet started their attempts to deprogram Rya'c the rest of SG-1 went through their after mission debriefing.

"And by consumed you mean?" general Hammond asked.

"I mean I ate Apophis, sir," Jack elaborated.

"I wasn't aware that you had gained that ability Colonel," the general stated while remembering Xander's explanation on the subject.

"I've only done it before on cows. It's the quickest way according to Xander to fully gain my abilities. I'm currently nearly two thirds of the way to reaching my full capabilities, sir," Jack said with dislike clear in his tone of voice.

"Didn't Xander say that he gained the abilities and memories of whomever he consumed?" the general asked.

"Yes, sir but the Goa'uld memories are stored on a genetic level and I'm having some problems breaking the code of how they're encoded and stored. If we want this information or at least the immediate tactical information about Goa'uld military assets and deployment across the galaxy then I'm going to need some help in decoding this stuff," Jack admitted.

"Are you telling me you need the help of your son to decode valuable top secret military intelligence?" said the General giving his second in command a look of disbelief.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, sir. Otherwise it might take weeks even months to decode and even then it'll take a while to sift through all the memories and collect valuable information. By then any tactical advantage could have been lost," Jack theorized.

"All right then I'll have to ask for permission from the Pentagon. But, seeing as the boy has already helped us I see no reason for them to object. All right you're all dismissed," the general said with a tone he generally reserved for talking to Jack at his worst.

By the end of the day Jack was home eating pizza with Xander and had just finished telling him about the events on Chulak.

"So the Pentagon approved?" Xander asked curiously.

"As soon as general Hammond mentioned all the knowledge of the Goa'uld at earth's disposal they were willing to grant permission for anything. Hell they told him he had permission to do whatever was needed," Jack said, remembered the twenty minute phone call Hammond had to make. "They barely cared that he was going to get some civilian help to decode the data."

"So how are you dealing with consuming a person for the first time? I know it was tough my first time," Xander said tentatively.

"You consumed a person?" Jack asked surprised. While Xander had explained about Alex, he hadn't told the SGC that he had consumed a person.

"Well it was a hired assassin trying to kill me so it was kind of in self-defense. At least I got my truck out of it," Xander said while pointing in the direction of the front door.

"Is your life ever normal?" Jack asked while staring at his son.

"Is yours?" Xander asked back.

"Touché," Jack relented.

The next morning father and son arrived back at the mountain. "Can't we do this in the parking lot? I'm getting tired of being deep underground. I'm from California and I'm kind of used to seeing the sun," Xander playfully complained.

"Although I agree that it would be nicer. Janet and Carter want to hook up a bunch of sensors when we do this," Jack answered equally playful.

"I hate being the lab rat," Xander sighed.

Jack could only answer with, "ditto."

After an hour of complaining and griping Xander and Jack were sitting cross legged on the ground of one of Janet's isolation rooms with their backs to each other seemingly merged nearly covered in all kinds of sensors from hart and blood pressure to EEG sensors.

Janet and Sam watched as Jack and Xander's backs seemed to merge. This would allow for a constant exchange of chemical and electrical signals.

[Mindscape]

"Finally! I've been screaming for you to pay attention to me ever since we consumed that first cow," Jack's subconscious double said.

Jack stared around him one second he was at the SGC with Xander and now he was in a black void. Xander was here just like he was before only there was another Xander standing there next to him wearing a leather jacket and grey jeans. There was also another Jack standing next to him in full gear. Apparently, screaming at him.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack couldn't help but ask. He knew he should have asked Xander what to expect when they did this.

"Dad this is the meeting place of the minds and these other versions are our subconscious minds. Apparently you've been ignoring yours," Xander said in a mock scolding tone.

"Hearing voices is a bad thing. Of course I ignored him," Jack said as if it was only natural.

"Just like you've been ignoring the hallucinations of being a barber named Joe Spencer in Indiana," Jack's counterpart pointed out.

Xander stared. "You've been having hallucinations about being a barber?"

"With all the weird things I go through on a daily basis it seemed kind of calming," Jack defended himself.

"It only happens when we're on base and they don't come from us," Jack's subconscious added.

"Ok, let's make ourselves more comfortable," Xander said. As soon as he uttered the words their surroundings changed to the control room overlooking the Stargate. Their subconscious minds working away at the computer terminals while Jack and Xander sat in comfy leather chairs. "How long do you guys think it'll take to crack the code?"

"All idle cells are working on it. We'll know in a couple of hours if we can crack the code. The host's memories are a lot easier," Xander's duplicate answered.

While they're working on that you wana tell me why you were ignoring the voice in your head or these hallucinations?" Xander couldn't help but ask.

Looking down embarrassed Jack explained, "I thought people were going to think I was crazy."

Xander stared at him. "Of course you're crazy. All of us have to be completely nuts just to function properly under the conditions we face on a daily basis. From what your own subconscious just told us these hallucinations aren't coming from you which means it has to be some kind of alien technology now can you think back to when you first experienced it?"

Thinking back with his improved memory Jack found the relevant date. "It was in February when Daniel was cataloging things that had been recovered from that world with the quantum mirror."

"Ok, that's good. Did you touch anything?" Xander asked, trying to coax the relevant information out of Jack.

"Only this little black rock nothing else," Jack said while concentrating on it. Showing an image of the little flat rock in his hand to show what it looked like.

"We'll take a look later," Xander reassured his dad. Turning to the subconscious minds behind the computers he asked, "found anything yet guys?"

"We've gone through the memories of the host and found some useful information. It seems his mind kind of shut down over long periods of time and we know he was the puppet so we weren't surprised that he had no idea of how anything worked. But thanks to Xander's book knowledge about ancient languages and Jack's memories of the Goa'uld language being used by Daniel and Teal'c…"

"I have knowledge about the Goa'uld language?" Jack said in his usual innocent way. Which would make anyone who didn't know him assume he was a dimwit.

"Now's not the time to play dumb, you're a lot smarter than that. Drop the act Jack. You're talking to your son and your own subconscious. There's absolutely no reason to act like you're an idiot. Every word that you've heard so far you've committed to memory and every time Daniel gives one of his little classes to teach the language to the newbies you listen in," Jack's subconscious slightly scolded.

"Hush you," Jack said quickly while gesturing to his counterpart to get on with it.

"Anyway we've got some decent tactical information on the placement of troops and ships and an understanding of the inter Goa'uld dynamics. Apparently Apophis had lost his place among the System Lords and soon one Goa'uld named Sokar and several other Goa'uld would have invaded Apophis' territory so if we didn't kill him Sokar would most likely have. We've also learned of the location of Sha're so Danny should be happy. Although when he finds out she's pregnant with Apophis' kid he won't be anymore."

"Oh, boy. Why the hell would a snake want a human child?" Xander quickly asked.

"From what the host understood from the conversation the child would be called a Harcesis and would have the combined genetic knowledge of both the Goa'ulds inhabiting the hosts along with several physical advantages. Making it a superior host or hok'taur. We've also learned that some kind of organism called nishta was used to brainwash Rya'c and the cure is an electrical shock roughly equal to a zat discharge."

As Jack's subconscious mind debriefed them on the information gathered from the host including a planet where human teenagers were being trained to act like SGC personnel. Neither Jack or Xander believed that they could fool anyone. Hell, everybody in the gate room alone knew the team members of SG teams. After this came a long list of occupied planets with possible placements of troops along with a number of known abandoned planets that most likely held some Goa'uld technology that was left behind, which could be scavenged. After what seemed like an hour Jack turned to his subconscious and screamed. "When are we getting to the big honkin' space guns?"

"I told you this is from the host's memories. Even though Apophis was notified about every advancement his scientists made and he read their reports the host has absolutely no understanding of what they said. Reading the words and actually understanding them isn't the same. All the understanding is locked away in the Goa'uld's genetic memory. We've already distinguished all the different parts of the genetic makeup. But, we're still figuring out what all of them do. We know that the Goa'uld can cure nearly any disease and once we figure out what each individual protein does we'll be able to help a lot of people with diseases that currently have no cure," Jack's subconscious went on.

"Fine we'll go over it when I have to write the report," Jack said with a sullen expression. Turning to Xander he asked. "How do I wake up? I'd like to tell Teal'c and Daniel the news."

"All you have to do is concentrate," Xander said.

Janet had been monitoring the Colonel and his son and was amazed by the data she was getting from the sensors. Every brain cell in both their bodies were firing constantly and in sync with each other. In her entire career she'd never seen such high brain activity it got even more bizarre when on a hunch she placed EEG sensors on their arms and where their backs came together. Their muscle tissue had actually turned into brain tissue. 'What I wouldn't give to take an MRI scan. Then again Colonel O'Neill made a good point when he took a magnet from the bulletin board and made it stick to his arm,' Janet remembered humorously. No way was she going to put metal anywhere near her MRI. She also watched as the rest of SG-1 visited. Even Teal'c came to watch for a little while in-between attempts to deprogram Rya'c.

On one of these moments with a slight intake of breath Jack opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing his team members looking down from the observation window he smiled. "Hello campers. How long have I been out?"

"Roughly five hours, Sir. We've been getting some amazing readings from the sensors. Did you know that every cell in yours and Xander's brain is working at maximum. Every neuron is firing nearly continuously," Carter said with a clear tone of excitement.

"That's nice to hear Carter. I actually woke up to tell you that to cure Teal'c's kid you'll need to shock him with an electrical shock to kill the microscopic organism responsible for making him obey Apophis," Jack said before turning to Daniel. "I also want to tell you that Sha're is on Abydos and she's pregnant with Apophis' kid. Her snake is currently dormant so as to not induce premature labor. I've currently got no way to remove the thing without damaging Sha're or not wake up the snake and should it, it could kill Sha're out of spite. Maybe Xander and me can figure something out soon."

[Mindscape]

After going back to the mindscape Xander and Jack watched The Simpsons on a floating big screen TV while their subconscious minds kept working. After several seasons Xander's subconscious turned away from the computer and said, "we've got it."

As soon as Jack got the word that they had the design schematics for big honkin' space guns he was as happy as a kid in a candy store and when his own subconscious told him about a tranquilizer they could make that would keep both Sha're and her Goa'uld asleep without hurting the baby he became ecstatic. He lost some of his cheer when he learned that Skaara was too heavily guarded to go and save him right now.

Xander meanwhile immediately asked about the Goa'uld's understanding of physics and chemistry trying to compare it with the knowledge from the Orb-alien so he didn't have to invent words and terms for the new knowledge making it a lot easier for him to explain everything. 'I'm going to name at least one element mithril just for the fun of it. But, according to that report from Heliopolis there are 146 elements and I refuse to make up names for everyone of them that haven't been encountered by humans yet.'

It soon became clear that the Goa'uld had vast knowledge in certain fields while extremely lacking in other fields. After looking at the sources behind the information it all began to make sense. Only a handful of Goa'uld scientists existed each specialized in a certain field and nearly all aimed at somehow making better weapons or other technologies that could be used for stealth and defense. These knew the actual science behind the technology while the knowledge of how to build something that had been around for a while was know by nearly all the Goa'uld either by paying for, stealing or reverse engineering the technology. A good example for this was Ptah who studied a ship apparently belonging to the builders of the Stargate. He used what he learned to design all the ships in the Goa'uld armada. The plans were then dispersed throughout the Goa'uld empire. Even though Ptah isn't a powerful Goa'uld only controlling a handful of worlds. No Goa'uld would attack them because Ptah knows all the weak spots in their ships and how they function. It also surprised Xander that they barely had any technology that was not war oriented and nothing that they invented themselves. Another good example was the scientist Telchak who designed the sarcophagi that healed the body while destroying the mind. He was killed by Anubis and no further advancement has been made since.

A/N: Following what we learned from the show we know the host knows what's going on while having no control. We can also conclude that they have no idea how the technology works. At most former hosts can control Goa'uld technology.


	15. Chapter 15

**15. Chapter 15**

A/N: Both this and previous chapters have been edited. Resulting in 20 extra Word pages of text.

* * *

It had been five hours since Jack went unconscious again. In that time Ry'ac's bout with brainwashing was cured by a mild electric shock, to the great relief of his parents. Daniel and Sam meanwhile took turns keeping vigil over Jack and Xander. Each staying silent while lost in thought. Sam speculating about the Goa'uld's technologies and making lists of questions. Daniel thinking about Sha're. On the one hand he was overjoyed about knowing where she was and knowing that she was safe. On the other hand there were the worries and fears surrounding her pregnant condition. His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he saw who was entering the observation room, Colonel Harry Maybourne.

"This can't be good," was the only thing Daniel could say.

* * *

The first signs of Xander and Jack waking up was a drop in the EEG readings and an increase in their breathing. Soon their backs disengaged from one another and they opened their eyes to see the annoyed and disgruntled faces of friends and colleges.

"Whatever it is we did we're sorry," Jack quickly apologized.

General Hammond stepped forward and held his hands in a placating manner. "Don't worry. You two haven't done anything wrong. We've just been paid a little visit by Colonel Maybourne.

"The guy who wanted to take the Tolan people into custody?" Jack asked.

"Yes, he recently took command of the Groom Lake Facility. He came with orders for you to be reassigned to the facility and for Xander to accompany you so the scientists could run some tests. He also came to take Teal'c's family into custody," Hammond said with a look of extreme dislike.

"No way in hell am I going to Area 51 to be some nutjob's lab rat, neither is my son or Teal'c's family," Jack said vehemently.

"Don't worry Colonel," Hammond said, reminding him of his lower rank. "I immediately went over his and whoever he's working for's head and contacted the president. He agreed that it would be a great disservice to Teal'c after all the help he has given us. Xander is a civilian, who hasn't committed any crimes and is a minor. So he cannot be taken anywhere without his parents' consent. As for you, the President agrees that your new knowledge and skills would be more of use here at the SGC and on missions that would require your input."

"Ok, so why the grumpy looks? Everything seems to have worked out ok," Jack asked.

"Maybourne simply accepted it and went on his way. Like he knew it would happen and didn't mind," Daniel told his friend.

"yeah that would do it," Jack conceded.

* * *

The following debriefing was rather short with Jack simply stating that they got everything Appophis knew and that it was way too much to go over it now. He would write it all down, but first there would be a few loose ends to tie up.

* * *

Meanwhile Xander had gone outside to check his messages. He'd been surprised to find out that he'd been down there for 33 hours. He became even more so when he saw that he'd received five voice messages from his mom.

"Xander its mom here. I just got a call from the Arizona state police. Your grandma Gladys and her brother were in a car accident and have been taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center. I'll call you when I know more," Jessica's voice came over the phone.

Xander was now very worried. After the fall out with Jessica's parents over Tony Harris, Xander hadn't been allowed to see his grandma Gladys again. So when his parents would be out of the house Xander would call her every now and then. She and her brother operated a small family run gold mining operation in Prosperity Arizona. Her husband Xander's grandfather, George Stamper was before his death ten years ago a contract oil driller with his own company. His mom and uncle Harry had actually grown up there with their father coming home in-between jobs all across America. After his death Xander's uncle Harry took over the company, although it actually belonged to his grandma. When Jessica started to mend bridges with her family she actually learned that according to her father's will she became part owner in the event that she divorced Tony.

In the next message Jessica's voice was even more stressed. "It's mom. Grandma Gladys' brother Jason died en route to the hospital and she's in surgery. Would you please go stay with her when she gets out. I can't get out of work. They can't find any other nurses who can cover for me. I'll call you as soon as I know more. Call me as soon as you get this message."

"Alexander you better have a good reason for not answering your phone. Grandma Gladys is out of surgery and they say she'll make it. She'll be in room 1223. You better pray to god you've got a good reason for not answering your phone"

In the next two messages Jessica became more worried and mad at him for not answering his phone. Xander was not looking forward to answering her messages.

* * *

After saying his goodbyes to everyone on base Xander promised Jack to call every Friday unless Jack was off world. SG-1 was also invited for Christmas.

* * *

After a quick stop at Jack's place to get his stuff, Xander was on the freeway heading for Arizona. First he called his mom to reassure her that he was fine and that he'd been in an area without cell phone coverage. This of course did not get him out of getting a talking to from his mom. As soon as she was done with that he had to promise to call her when he knew more about Grandma Gladys' condition.

Xander's second call was to his broker/accountant.

"Hal speaking, How did it go with the package I delivered?" Hal Rain the android answered upon answering the phone.

"It went well and they believed me. Look I need you to check if I could buy the town dump and scrap yard. Also look for any nearby abandoned warehouses and factories," Xander said while thinking back to his promise to supply superconducting wire for the base and now also for their new technology. While the Goa'uld utilized naquadah's natural property as a superconductor it would be a waste of resources to simply use it for wire. Xander was also sure it would make a great deal of money as this would be the first real advancement in wire composition in decades.  
At first he had considered buying the necessary materials to make the wire but after going over the math it would actually be cheaper to refine the chemicals himself than to buy resources of a high enough purity. Processing the garbage would also give a secondary source of income.

There was also the matter of the protein and enzyme cocktails the Goa'uld use to cure their hosts of almost all diseases. While it would be easier and way more profitable to simply sell the formulas to a big drug company, they with current technology would be unable to produce enough to cope with demand. The small amounts they would be able to produce would be sold at high prices and only to those of power and influence. Xander could not stand by while millions of people died or suffered while he had the cure to their ailments.

Meanwhile as soon as Xander made the request Hal started going over the numbers. Half of Ted's savings. The other half he was managing for Willow. Then there was the money which originally belonged to the assassins and the occasional large sums of cash recovered from vamp nests. For a android it was rather easy to play the stock market with an ease any day trader would envy. So he had been making some serious profits. Having some serious starting capital also helped.

"I'd have to check the hard records to find out who's the current landowner. The dump/scrap yard belongs to the town so I'd have to check what they'd want and what concession they'd want in return for relinquishing ownership. I'll call you when I know more."

* * *

When Xander reached the Kingman Regional Medical Center visiting hours were already over so he snuck in through the roof entrance next to the helipad. After dodging a few doctors and nurses in the hallways he reached room 1223. Gladys was already asleep and not wanting the doctors to kick him out Xander simply read her chart to find out how bad her condition was. Lots of internal injuries and broken bones. The worst was a spinal injury. After checking the medical terms with his medical knowledge a dark picture began to form. She would not be getting back on her feet and she'd be lucky to regain control of her arms.

"No," Xander said resolutely. Taking a seat next to her bed he held her hand and formed a few small fags on his hand through which he started to inject Goa'uld enzymes and proteins to start healing her injuries.

* * *

Over the next hours Gladys' breathing went from labored to gentle. As dawn drew closer she even started to move slightly in her sleep.

When Gladys finally awoke to the sight of her grandson she couldn't help but smile. "Hey kiddo. Your mom here?" she asked in that tone of voice reserved for grandmothers.

"No, she couldn't get out of work. I know this might be hard, but can you tell me what happened? All the cops would tell mom was that you were in a car accident," Xander asked both curious and wanting to stall her from noticing anything odd.

Taking a deep breath and going over everything in her head Gladys started talking. "When I first woke up the cops were saying that Jason had lost control of the vehicle. Like hell he did. Some nut job in a blue truck swerved onto our side of the road. Jason tried to avoid a head-on collision but the crash forced us off the road." Looking down at her legs a sad look came over her face, only for it to be replaced with one of confusion before she gently rubbed her leg.

"Something wrong Grandma?" Xander asked in his most innocent and curious tone of voice.

"I can move my arms and feel my legs," she whispered afraid to say it out loud incase she lost her mobility. "The doctors said I'd be lucky to regain movement of my arms or even feeling in them."

"Maybe it was just the morphine messing with you," Xander suggested. Xander's expression made it clear that he knew more and it even sounded like a lame excuse to him.

Something Gladys noticed when she turned to glare at him. "Alexander Lavelle Harris. What do you know about this?" she said in a tone that made it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer.

'I'm going to be in so much trouble.' Was the only thought going through Xander's mind.

In the three days that followed major Davis handled the doctors, saying Xander had used a top secret drug to cure his grandmother which he'd stolen from his father's workplace and subsequently swore them to secrecy with an ironclad nondisclosure agreement.  
Meanwhile, Xander after getting a stern talking to was given the hug of a lifetime from Gladys for healing her and they had a long hushed conversation in which he told her everything. As soon as she could be discharged they started making arrangements for Jason's funeral. While Gladys concentrated on getting everything set up and Xander working on getting Jason's son Chris to the funeral on time. As he was working with Xander's uncle Harry on some job in the Atlantic drilling for gas and oil he would be unable to get there in time. That is under normal conditions, thankfully Xander with help from Hal was able to make all the travel arrangements. It was the least he could do for the guy.

* * *

Two days later Chris McCormick arrived at his old family home, riding in Xander's car. Last time he'd seen the kid he'd been a teenager himself. He'd gotten the call about his father's death from his aunt. The guys on the rig had shown their support and his cousin Harry and his daughter Grace had apologized for not being able to come with for the funeral. But, they couldn't leave right now. Too much work and the cost of delays would be high. 20 hours, a private helicopter flight, 3 planes and a 86 mile long drive and he was back in his hometown. He was also pretty sure he was going to suffer from jetlag after all this.

Turning to Xander, Chris could only say, "thanks for everything Xander."

"Hey we're family it's the least I could do."

* * *

Jason's funeral was a solemn affair, nearly the entire town of Prosperity came to pay their respects to the deceased and his relatives. Xander only recognized some of them from when he was a kid and from conversations with his grandmother.

Afterwards they went back to the McCormick house for the reception. Xander was pleasantly surprised to see that Chris was talking with a woman whom his grandma said was Sheriff Sam Parker a nice looking blond about Chris' age.

That night while cleaning up Gladys explained the history between Chris and Sam. How they'd been friends all their younger lives and when Chris found out Sam's husband was cheating on her he beat the bastard up. Chris feeling embarrassed about the whole thing left town and went to college and then went on to work for his cousin, Xander's uncle Harry.

* * *

The next few days Xander became engrossed in the family business. Apparently after more than a century of McCormicks mining, the mines were almost completely tapped out of gold. Or so everyone thought except the McCormicks. Since Gladys' father's time the family had believed they were only mining minor side veins of gold and the Agua Mesa load, the main load or vein of gold was still to be found. While they were still bringing up gold, the amount was not large enough to balance out the costs of mining. The second source of income for the mines was that they sold the excess electricity generated by their generators that powered the mines and the excess water they pumped up from the ground, supplying the town with water making the McCormicks the local Water and Electricity Company.

Xander wasn't a miner and had no experience in the field. But, he trusted his family and he had several tools at his disposal that could help out. Arizona was well known for its mineral wealth one of which the mineral tellurium, Xander was very interested in it for his superconducting wire. While it wasn't very common or a very expensive mineral. He believed that it would be better to have a supply not influenced by market prices or supply and demand. If this also meant he could help his family it would just make it all the better.

Xander got the permission after explaining his plans to Gladys and Chris who was now partially in the know. After a show and tell evening. Chris was family after all and Xander would be damned if one of his relatives got hurt because they were ignorant to the supernatural.  
So, the next day he went to the large building next to the small main office, signs with a skull and bones warning for the toxic nature of the activities that occurred within. Going past miles of pipes Xander reached his goal the gold cyanidation area, a giant basin filled with an earthy colored soup with oxygen being constantly pumped in. The perfect growth medium for a bacteria that could eat and incorporate inorganic molecules. Holding his hand over the top of the basin a piece of his arm seemed to release from the rest of him and flow into the mixture seemingly dissolved in seconds.

When he came back the next day thanks to the wonders of exponential growth he could already see some changes. Tentacles that were attached to the walls of the basin moving constantly through the water absorbing minerals while clumps of cells broke everything down into a manageable state for the tentacles. 'Give it another week and it'll be ready,' Xander thought. [Nine days to be exact,] his subconscious corrected.

During the time it would take for the new refining installation to fully grow Xander helped with the heavy lifting in the mines during work hours, spending time with his family in the evenings and at night walking through the mines collecting soil samples to determine the exact composition of the soil. Something his grandmother informed him hadn't been done in years and never from across the entirety of the mines.

* * *

It was four days later when Xander stumbled onto something that would cause some serious problems. Blue barrels. On their own nothing special. But, once you took in account that the barrels were reasonably new while the passage they were standing in hadn't been used in a decade. 'One of these things doesn't belong,' Xander thought sarcastically. Opening the nearest barrel he was rewarded with the sight of a snot green slurry. [Put one of our fingers in and I'll figure out what it is,] his subconscious submitted. 'No way what if it's some alien or a deadly toxin?' [We've already encountered one of those this summer and our second won't be down in this mine passage and I guarantee it'll take more than dipping a finger into anything to poison us. Now don't be a baby.] One annoyed grunt later Xander's right index finger was in the slurry and a list of chemicals started to go through his mind. The longer the list became the grimmer the look on his face became.

Gladys was awoken by Xander shaking her and screaming something about eepaa. "What's going on? Would you calm down and if you don't have a good reason for waking me up I'll smack your bottom. Special abilities or not."

Taking a second to center himself Xander started to talk as calmly as he could. "Mayor West is dumping toxic and biologic waste in the mines."

Gladys stared at him. "Why would you think Wade is doing something like that?"

"Oh, I found barrels filled with the crap in the mines and matched the location of the passage with the (plat book) register of properties in your office. The only thing I'm having trouble with is the why. I heard you guys laughing about get-rich-quick schemes when you were talking about him. What exactly were these schemes?" Xander asked.

"Well, let's see. He turned his home and the surrounding property into an ostrich farm, built a mall in a town with a population less than 2000 people..." Gladys started going though her memories.

"Wait. He built a mall. Where did he get the money for something like that. We're talking about something that would have cost millions of dollars. If he had that much money he wouldn't need get-rich-quick schemes in the first place," Xander concluded.

The next day Chris, Gladys and Xander went to Sam Parker with their information and suspicions. One phone call to a judge later Sam had a warrant and she and her deputy Pete along with Xander went to search Wade's house. Xander was able to hack his computer easily with a few tricks he'd learned from Willow and found Wade's financial records which clearly showed that not only was Wade working with a company called Viroanol corporation to store and dump toxic waste in the mines he was also embezzling the town's money to pay off his debts.

In the following days the barrels were removed and taken to the nearest EPA lab for analysis. Under the watchful eyes of every resident of Prosperity. Wade had not only stolen their money, he had also endangered their lives and more importantly the lives of their children.

* * *

Ten days after the first clump of Xander's cells were exposed to the cyanidation basin it had grown near exponentially. While seeing the large mass of cells working together was impressive this was not what nearly gave Gladys and Chris a heart attack. Xander had just informed them that this new setup allowed for the complete purification and extraction of all the chemicals that made up the soil and ore, not just the gold, copper and occasional silver deposits their old installation extracted from the ore. Because the system was extremely energy efficient, self repairing and maintaining it would result in an extra $45000 per metric ton of ore and soil without adding any costs. In comparison even the richest goldfields only produce 7 grams of gold for every metric ton of processed ore. Something the McCormick mines were not achieving.

"I think the mine's money troubles are over Chris," Gladys remarked.

"Although we could increase that. Currently glass fiber is in high demand for optical fiber in the telecommunication industry. I've also got some other ideas like superconductive wire. Of which I promised to get some to my dad's base, so with your permission I'd like to use some of the materials here to produce it?" Xander asked.

As Xander continued to explain his ideas for new materials and their potential uses Gladys' and Chris' expressions alternated between confusion and awe. Seeing that their own cost would be materials that without Xander's help would have been thrown away any way they eagerly agreed. When they learned that Xander was planning a similar setup back in Sunnydale their main question was where he was going to get his materials as it would be difficult to start mining so close to the town unlike Prosperity which started out as a mining town. The simple answer was garbage. While the mines contained a lot of useful chemicals they were low on one important chemical that had a near infinite number of applications, carbon a chemical that garbage was very rich in.

* * *

The end of august was upon them. The evening before Xander would leave back to Sunnydale Chris and Gladys surprised him with an envelope. Thinking it would be some funny card or something similar he was surprised when it contained a bunch of legal documents declaring him part owner of the McCormick mines. This was way more than the original hope for a good deal on chemicals he had had when he started helping out.

* * *

On a normal school day you could find Xander fighting demons in numerous forms and thanks to a Chaos mage's idea of a joke he'd been turned into a walking human shaped virus. So leaving town and taking a vacation should make things a little calmer. Then earlier this summer Xander learned that aliens existed and that his dad fought evil aliens called Goa'uld. So saying that his life was almost like a B-movie was kind of an understatement. Now after a relatively calm month something was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Another update. Mainly about how the SGC handles the new knowledge and access to technology. Not a Filler.

Meanwhile at the SGC

After Xander's departure Jack started making a list of targets and goals.

There were caches where Apophis had hidden technology and goods in case he was overthrown by his subordinates and he had to make a hasty retreat. The SGC would have to get to these quickly before any other Goa'uld found them by accident, how unlikely that may be or the more likely possibility of going through Apophis' personal tablets and finding references to their locations.

Then there were the more personal loose ends that needed taking care of. Several encampments filled with teenagers that were being trained to infiltrate the SGC on a backwater planet far removed from the major Goa'uld territories. Jack had no idea how they were going to handle that. There was also Skaara someone Jack almost saw as a second son who was still under the control of Klorel. Sadly Jack didn't know where he was and even if he did he would still not have the means to mount a rescue. And finally there was Sha're, Jack was genuinely happy for Daniel that they had found her even if she was pregnant with Apophis' spawn. The problem would be in suppressing the child's genetic memory. No matter how good a kid is raised, having the memories and associated feelings of a thousand Hitlers would in the least turn the kid insane.

Getting Sha're back also brought him to the next point on his mental list. Resources. Some of the more interesting technologies to which he now mentally had access to relied heavily on naquadah and a few other minerals not found on earth. From what he remembered from his first trip through the gate Abydos had large deposits of several of these minerals on the surface of the planet. Being the son in law of the leader of the planet Daniel could probably negotiate with Kasuf for mutually beneficial mining rights.

When they had completed those goals there would be the daunting task of getting all the important information in his head down on paper or at least some kind of database. Although he had some ideas of how to speed up the process.

In-between all of this he would also have to upgrade the SGC against some of the dangers in the universe that it was currently unprotected against.

The Abydos mission started out like most. SG-1 along with SG-9, the more diplomatic oriented team that would help with the negotiations, suited up with the only new thing being Apophis' hand device and the healing device from Cimmeria both of which Jack could now use.

They easily found Sha're in the village which resulted in the reunion of her and Daniel. After giving the two lovers a moment SG-1 along with the pregnant Sha're being carried by Jack made their way back to the gate while SG-9 stayed behind to start negotiations with Kasuf.

For safety's sake Jack first sent Sha're unconscious using a tranquilizer he had prepared with a chemical that both Goa'uld and host were very susceptible to. Then they took her back to the SGC where Janet easily removed the unconscious and hibernating Goa'uld that had never even been aware of the danger it had been in. The Goa'uld Ammonet was put into a preprepared fish tank and Jack used the healing device to heal Sha're's incisions. Jack realized from the look he was getting from Janet that she was going to call him down to the infirmary even more than usual in the future.

Once SG-1 and Sha're were back on Abydos Jack carried the pregnant woman back to her village.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

The following week was filled with trips to Apophis' caches. It wasn't uncommon to see FREDs (Field Remote Expeditionary Devices) which were normally used to carry supplies loaded with everything from gold jewelry to cases of weapons.

There was even a sarcophagus and several ring transporter platforms. While the platforms weighed 12,5 metric tons as a whole and could not be moved in that way they could be broken down into five 1,9 ton rings and a 3,4 ton platform which were all individually carried/dragged by Jack thanks to his newfound strength. The sarcophagus was actually lighter than it's bulky appearance made it look and the heavy cover stones were removable cutting down on the weight even further.

Meanwhile back at the SGC there was a paperwork nightmare going on. While General George Hammond was ecstatic about the influx of Goa'uld technology and materials, an amount greater than brought back on all previous missions combined even counting the two Death Gliders from the attempted invasion. What was ruining this moment was a combination of unusual requisition orders coming from his second-in-command and demands/requests coming from area 51 to immediately send them the recovered technology. A complete contradiction from the earlier procedure of first letting the SGC personnel and experts properly catalogue and examine the new items.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

Samantha Carter was getting annoyed. Jack had upon returning back to the SGC started taking several pieces of Goa'uld technology that she really wanted to examine. Even worse he was deflecting her questions by simply saying, "I'll explain later. Just give me three days." So she simply worked on her own projects and went to look for him three days later. Determined to finally get her answers

Jack was working in what he called his workshop. He simply refused to call it a lab or say he had one, geeks and scientists have labs. Completely ignoring the fact that he was working and making the most advanced pieces of technology in the world. It looked like a bizarre mix of a plumbers' and a electrician's workshop sprinkled with items from a pet shop. It was a rather large room across the hall from the storage room where they serviced and kept the MALPs and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). There was a long workbench along one wall, twenty-five bathtubs in five rows of five in the middle, large plastic tubs/drums of chemicals across the room from the workbench and shelves all along the other two walls.

Next to Jack was an amalgamation of computer components, Goa'uld crystal technology all held together with what Sam assumed were Jack's cells and wiring.

Sam watched fascinated as Jack dismantled several Goa'uld tablets and devices with as much ease as she would have with her own computer.  
Seeing that Sam was there Jack turned to her. "Fine, I'll answer your questions. But, Carter I swear what I'm working on will help answer them way faster."

"My other questions can wait Sir. I'm more interested in what you're making," she said indicating all the parts, crystals and the amalgamation on the workbench.

"Believe it or not I'm building a mainframe and an interface. I abhor paperwork, Carter and I'll be damned if I spend the next six months typing nonstop so all the valuable intell I got from Apophis would be available to the rest of the SGC. So my plan is to modify a memory recall device and hook it up to a very powerful computer so the information will go directly from my memory into the mainframe, thus saving us all valuable time and help me keep my sanity.

"What's a memory recall device and how does it work?" Sam asked puzzled.

"Basically it's what it's name suggests. While the Goa'uld themselves don't need any help in remembering anything thanks to their genetic memory. They usually use this device when torturing or interrogating. It stimulates the brain to make it easier to remember even the smallest detail. Depending on the setting it can also make you relive your worst memories which would come in handy as a torture device."

Sam shivered at the idea. "Is this like the neural interface in the hand device?"

"No, that one's way less sensitive than the memory recall device. The recall device is made up of the main part," Jack said indicating a dime sized metal disc attached behind his ear, "which stimulates the brain and helps you to remember. While the other part," indicating an open metal case of Goa'uld design connected to various crystals and computer components, "can translate the brain's signals into an audio and visual signal which is then shown as a holographic image."

"That's amazing. So you can directly record the relevant memories and data?" Sam asked.

"I could but that wouldn't solve my problem. I or someone else would still have to go over all the video files and collect all the information into useful files. So the first thing I did was write a rather large program from Xander's memories..."

"You, Sir. Write a computer program," Sam remarked being reminded of all of Jack's whining when forced to work with computers.

"Well Carter its more of a monkey see, monkey do kind of thing. Xander learned a lot of computer stuff from a friend of his. She might even give you a run for your money." Seeing Carter's look he had to suppress a smile. "Anyway the Goa'uld have been programming things for over 12000 years but they're not known for creativity. So I used advanced Goa'uld programming skills to improve on it and speed up the programming." Turning to the computer/recall device (computer from here on out) Jack said, "say hi to Carter, Guardian.

"Greetings Captain Carter. It is good to meet you," a voice said coming from the computer.

Staring in amazement Sam stared at both the computer and Jack. "Are you saying you created an artificial intelligence? Is that even safe?" Sam said thinking back on all the scifi stories where AIs went rogue.

"Well it's programmed with a loyalty circuit which supersedes the four laws of robotics with robot being replaced by AI."

"I know the three laws, Sir and I can guess what the loyalty circuit does. But, what's the fourth law?" Sam asked while looking puzzled.

"It's basically a law that says when in doubt or in the event of an illogical event use common sense. It's a law that tries to help a logical being to understand an illogical universe. For instance when a human smokes a cigarette they are harming themselves and to some degree it can be seen as suicide. An AI that exclusively follows the three laws would take away the cigarette to save and protect the human from harm, in accordance with the first law. The forth law allows the AI to understand and reason that the human is aware of this damage and that it is the human's choice. Now if we take this to a larger scale of humanity forming a danger to itself through damaging the planet or making war a logical conclusion to an AI governed by only the three laws would be to take away the choice to do anything harmful from humanity so that humanity as a whole would be safe. The fourth law would direct them to help solve the problems in a different way that doesn't take away free will from the populace," Guardian explained in a matter-of-fact tone before Jack could answer.

"That actually makes sense," Carter said after thinking through the AI's words. "But, how did you teach it to use something as complex as common sense?" Sam asked Jack.

"It's Xander and his friend Willow's design. Mainly by showing it memories as examples and explaining my thought processes. One of the basics to this lies in making it clear to the AI that it can always ask questions when it doesn't understand something. I'm currently working on the second part of the interface and then I'll work on increasing the processing speed," Jack said with a grumpy tone.

"What's wrong with the current one? This is amazing, it's the kind of thing scientists have been dreaming of and working on for decades," Sam said with childlike glee as she stared at the open computer with a new understanding of the capabilities.

"Well the interface only goes one-way and is specifically designed for memories which means I have to constantly explain everything by saying it and look at the display or listen to see if Guardian has it right. Because the device isn't intended for receiving data and it can't handle simple thoughts. I wasn't looking forward on designing something that could based on the memory recall device and the neural interface technology known to the Goa'uld. But, that's when I remembered those virtual reality pods from P7J-989. Their interfaces allowed for information to go both ways between brain and machine. So I requisitioned one of the interface tentacles, stripped it apart and I'm currently trying to figure out how it works," Jack said while opening up his arm where Sam could clearly see metal parts of what must be the pod's interface.

Sam found it both fascinating and a bit creepy that Jack had inserted machine parts in his arm to figure out how they work.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

In the end it took Jack with some help from Sam and Janet another three days to fully figure out the interface and get it working right. Three days of him playing guinea pig seeing as he was the only one around that could actually recover from brain damage if something went wrong.

When Sam received her own interface in the form of a small metal headband it became her new favorite thing. No longer did she have to interrupt her experiments to type up reports or to make notes. Even better she could simply ask questions wirelessly and immediately get the answers through the neural interface.

Daniel who came back to work around that time after spending time with Sha're hugged Jack after he learned that Guardian could translate nearly every text, scroll and tablet on Daniel's to-do-list. Giving him more time to devote to new discoveries, his wife and not routine translations.

The really interesting thing happened a few days later when Sam started to have flashes of memories that were not her own.

"Well Carter, the settings might be a little too high or you're accidently seeing things I'm uploading," Jack said after mulling it over.

"No, Sir. I've already asked Guardian to cross-reference the memories with the ones you've uploaded and it said that there was no definitive matches. There were some locations that matched up, which leads me to assume that somehow I'm seeing Jolinar's memories," Sam concluded.

After it became clear that Sam had some of Jolinar's memories it was decided that it would be in her best interests to confront the memories. Jack had set the interface to its highest setting to make it as easily as possible for her to remember. Meanwhile Janet injecting her with a special cocktail of enzymes, proteins and drugs that she and Jack had prepared to suppress the emotional backlash attached to the emotions. Sam was hoping it could lead to a way to help Sha're's child or the location of the Tok'ra who might also be able to help. Guardian would record everything but would not show or share any of the information until Sam gave her permission or if it was of immediate importance. This was done to prevent any of her personal memories becoming public.

She woke up almost three days later with her understanding of Goa'uld and Tok'ra science and politics greatly improved. Of course calling it politics would be giving them way too much credit.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

While Sam was unconscious, Jack and a bunch of engineers started working on the biggest hurdle in mining. While through the hard work of SG-9 and Daniel the SGC had a fair mining agreement, there was still the question of how they were going to mine. In the past SG teams had done small scale mining to take samples, but that wasn't anything close to what they needed now.

"That's it I'm calling an expert," Jack said out loud to the group of engineers. He was getting bored with the squabbling.

Over the next 3 hours Jack and the engineers had a conference call with Gladys Stamper née McCormick, Chris and Xander at the end. Because Gladys and Chris were partially in the know about the project and a third and fourth generation miner respectively they were a lot of help. Any mining equipment had to be able to pass through the 5 meter diameter of the inner ring and be small enough to be hoisted down the silo. Was preferably electric or very fuel efficient.

When it came to compact and electrical mining equipment Gladys had recently done research because of the McCormick mines' recent increase in cash flow. She and Chris had decided to buy new equipment and because of the constant danger of methane in the mines they had opted for electrical equipment, the fact that the mines were subterranean meant that any equipment would also have to be compact.

With the matter of available equipment out of the way the next question was power and purification. Both of these were more in Xander's and now Jack's domain. Through a mixture of orb alien understanding of physics, Goa'uld experience of salvaging/stealing technology and using it for their own purpose and human ingenuity they came up with the simple solution of jury-rigging two liquid naquadah power cells to power each machine individually. As for purification it was decided to simply copy Xander's upgraded method used at the McCormick mines.

The requisition orders went out and the joint chiefs okayed it. While they weren't happy that the SGC would be dismantling staff weapons it was more than worth it if it meant a continues flow of resources heading towards earth.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

Sam was slightly upset that she'd missed the mining meeting. But Jack quickly remedied that by working with her to make the naquadah powercells for the mining machines. While they would powered heavy machines just fine they weren't full-fledged generators.

Several days later a shipment of superconducting wire had arrived along with a catalog listing materials and chemicals the McCormick mines were producing and were offering to sell to the SGC at a serious discount as a little thank you for their role in helping Gladys and as their small contribution to protecting the planet. General Hammond readily agreed having seen the expense reports being generated by Jack. While their mining operation on Abydos would produce large amounts of materials they most likely wouldn't produce every element of the periodic table in the needed quantities.

While the machines were fitted with their new power sources in the motor pool on the ground level of the base, the base itself was getting a makeover as well with all nonessential gate activity suspended. Sergeant Siler was heading the team that was rewiring the base starting with the gate room and working their way up from there. Each room and hallway that was finished got installed with new technology. No room more so than the gate room. A shield generator similar to the ones used on Goa'uld ships for windows was installed on the gate between the titanium iris and less than 1 nanometer from the event horizon. Similarly the control room would also get shield generators installed to work in conjunction or separately from the blast shield that was already installed.

Then there was also the changes to the two exits from the gate room. Instead of a simple blast door it was now two force shield covered doors in a similar configuration to an airlock with scanners identical to the scanners used by ring transporters between them. These were extremely accurate. With the only drawbacks being that it takes some considerable computing power to process the results and they only work at close range.

The first problem was easily handled and the second was of no consequence as one had to pass by them to get out of the gate room.

The last major upgrade to the gate room was more offensive in nature. From the two side walls and the sealing now hung a combination of a zat, a staff weapon and a .50 cal machine gun next to each other. With the energy weapons having been removed from their original casings and given new ones with much faster trigger mechanisms. These three platforms could be controlled from the control room. Finally making it unnecessary for soldiers to stand at the bottom of the ramp and around the gate room whenever there were unscheduled offworld activations, or if SG teams were coming in hot.

The next two places to get major upgrades apart from the hallways between these places and the ZPM were the control room and the infirmary.

As was planned for the entire base the control room was connected to the computer mainframe that Jack made. Guardian could if needed control the entire system though there was a manual override in the form of a palm scanner. All the screens were replaced with holograms and the bulky computers were replaced with smaller, faster and more damage resistant versions.

The four stations at the window overlooking the gate room also got reorganized.

From left to right there was the terminal that was responsible for communications, both subspace and radio. It was also responsible for MALP control and telemetry. This one was also excessively shielded and isolated from the rest of the computer system to prevent any electronic attacks. Any communication with the network had to be manually initiated.

The next was the terminal which controlled dialing, the shield and the iris along with relevant readings coming from the gate. Unlike the previous dialing computer that ignored 220 feedback signals of 400 the new one was more closely based on a DHD, only with more control and faster dialing as there was no manual dialing involved, only a computer command.

The terminal to the right from that was a security terminal for controlling the airlock scanners and doors.

The final terminal was the weapons' control terminal.

All of them could be operated manually or through the mental interface.

The last major addition to the control room was a large holo tank that could be used to show any information and images coming back from the MALP or UAV.

The infirmary received the recovered sarcophagus. It was stripped of the nonessential rock cover stones that were replaced with clear polycarbonate to make it seem less like a coffin. While using it very occasionally produces no ill effects. However, when using regularly, especially when unneeded, the psychological side effects can include megalomania and intense notions of superiority. For these reasons it would only be used in extreme circumstances. Janet Frasier and Samantha Carter were already running further tests comparing it to the handheld version in the hope of better understanding the technology.

The same scanning equipment used in the airlocks was also added, connected to the base's mainframe. Should anything dangerous be detected the computer would immediately search for any information on the threat.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

It was a month since the completion of the computer and Jack was on his way to the gate room. The SGC was looking great, almost new even.

While they were still rewiring the base they'd finished rewiring the lower levels. Afterwards they put in internal sensor and shield generators in every hallway next to the blast doors. They had started with the gate room, the control room and the infirmary and were working their way up. They'd already reached the twenty-fifth floor with the sensors and shield generators, but were waiting for more resources before installing any on the higher levels. Jack's favorite upgrade was one of the most visible and yet easiest to ignore, a red stripe on the newly painted white walls. Anyone seeing it would simply see it as an aesthetic choice to give the walls some color. In actuality they were his cells and were almost the definition of multitasking. They performed tasks ranging from recycling air to being backup organic sensors incase the others get turned off. But, more importantly they would also act as the base's immune system should another Orb-alien situation occur.

Meanwhile Sam was also thinking of the events of the past month. While confronting the memories left behind by Jolinar had gotten them some very interesting and valuable information, it had also confronted her with a lot of bad memories. While it had been bearable when she was unconscious thanks to the emotion suppressing drugs seeing them more as a third party than actually reliving them. The real heartache came afterwards when she and Guardian had to go over most of it to separate what were her memories and Jolinar's.

Daniel meanwhile was already at the gate and he was slightly grumpy, happy and exhausted. He was grumpy because he was exhausted and he was exhausted because he'd been burning the candle at both ends recently. First he'd been busy with Sha're back on Abydos. He went there now along with Teal'c on their days off. Ever since mining got fully started 3 days ago there was constant contact with Abydos over subspace. Since Daniel got back he and Guardian had gone through Daniel's to do list translating much faster than ever before. Daniel of course became obsessed which led to his current exhausted condition.

Next to Daniel Teal'c stood, being his usual stoic self, while on the inside Teal'c was extremely happy. First O'Neill killed their mortal enemy Appophis in an appropriately gruesome way. His only regret was that it wasn't him that killed the false god. Since that most joyous day his son's brainwashing was cured, the people of the Tau'ri gained a giant leap forward in numerous fields and more importantly he could visit his wife and son anytime he wanted as they were now living on Abydos next to Sha're in the native city Nagada on Abydos. In the past month he'd shared his knowledge with Guardian, trained and spent a great deal of time with his family.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

SG-1's first mission after more than a month of working on other projects was one that would take care of the last loose end. They were going to a planet Apophis used to train human teenage boys to infiltrate the SGC, a task the teenagers would have failed even before the SGC's recent upgrades

They'd sent a UAV through to check if the kids were even still on the planet and apparently they were and from the video footage sent back they were still training.

After walking directly to the nearest camp they requested to see the leader.

It was decided that Teal'c would take the lead in the conversation, seeing as of the four of them Teal'c was the one who could project the most authority and was most aware of the teaching methods employed by the Goa'uld and Jaffa to teach soldiers.

When they were lead into a tent with a teenager not much older than Xander Teal'c spoke, "Kal vak Jaffa!"

The teenager quickly came to attention, "greetings master Jaffa."

"I am master Teal'c, give your full rank and name. Where are your teachers?" Teal'c ordered.

"Earth name Kyle Rogers, commander quadrant-A. Our previous master Jaffa received orders from Apophis and returned through the Chappa'ai... I mean Stargate, Sir," Kyle said while he apparently looked apologetic for saying Chappa'ai, because he removed his side arm.  
"We have been so long without challenges. I am sorry, master Jaffa. I have revealed myself and failed. You must execute me for the remainder of the day," Kyle said while handing over his weapon.

Jack recognized it as an intar made to look like a standard issue handgun. Reminding him to add them to the weapons platforms in the gate room because unlike a zat they were not deadly if one received multiple hits from them.

Seeing as these kids were not aware of Apophis' demise. SG-1 would follow their original plan.

"That will be unnecessary commander Rogers, I will require your vo'cume. We will use it to relay new instructions from Apophis. While we prepare it you will gather all the troops of both this quadrant and the other three in the center of the camp," Teal'c commanded.

"Yes, Sir." Kyle acknowledged.

In advance to this mission SG-1 had know the capabilities these kids would have and what they would have access to. The UAV had shown they were still on the planet and were still training. The only question left was what orders had they been given after the death of Apophis and if they were aware of his death. Now that these questions were answered they could proceed.

After Kyle brought them the Vo'cume a portable hologram projector used as a training tool. Jack replaced the crystal with the current message with one that contained a compilation of SG-1's memories of Apophis' death.

An hour later several hundred recruits had assembled in the middle of the camp, eager for their new commands. Jack placed the vo'cume on the ground and activated it. The compilation played showing Apophis' death from several viewpoints. At the end there was outrage. Mainly there were screams of denial of Apophis' death based on the instilled notion that gods cannot die.

Jack hated brainwashing but decided to stop it right here. "Of course gods can die. Especially the Goa'uld. How many times have you heard about one Goa'uld being defeated and killed by another."

"But, that was by other gods," said a young boy to the side.

"You just saw those images of me killing Apophis, I promise you I am no god and neither was Apophis," Jack declared vehemently.

This shut up nearly all the young men. Some because they saw reason in Jack's words and others because according to the brainwashed belief that only a god could kill another they believed they were standing before a god.

In the following days the teenagers were sent home and in the following week several SG teams would recover all equipment from the planet.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

While SG-11 and SG-7 were recovering equipment from the training planet SG-1 was taking a couple of days down time.

Sam and Jack were going to Washington, where they were being honored with the Air Medal for destroying Apophis' ha'taks. Meanwhile the next day after their departure Daniel and Teal'c were catching a ride to Abydos on one of the weekly supply runs. From the Abydos pyramid they would ride with one of the utility ATVs that ferried refined metals from the Abydos mining base back to the pyramid where they were stored in one of the underground chamber before being sent back to earth every two days .

The reason for the trip apart from it being their down time, was that Sha're was days away from giving birth and Daniel wanted the birth to happen in the clean infirmary back at SGC and not the smaller temporary one they had set up on Abydos while the permanent one was being built in Nagada. Which was one of the things the Abydonians were getting in return for letting earth mine their naquadah.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

Jack wasn't a big fan of DC. The incredibly uncomfortable conversation he'd just had with Sam's dad was only adding to his discomfort. The cherry on top of this cake of discomfort was the fact that he could see that Jacob Carter was literally a very sick man. A fact that he couldn't tell Sam while her father was standing there. His only option had been to take a walk and some fresh air. Maybe get a drink.

He'd barely finished his beer when he was approached by what he learned was a reporter named Armin Selig that had found out about the Stargate program. Even worse the reporter had recorded part of Jack and Sam's conversation.

After a quick conversation with General Hammond and Sam he was given the order to find out what Armin knew, while they did a background check on the guy.

They barely spoke for a minute, during which it became clear that Armin was extremely well informed although it was clear he wasn't aware of recent events. When Armin left and started to cross the road a car sped towards him. Just before it would hit him Jack pushed him out of the way getting hit himself.

Armin got up from the road staring as Jack got up himself apparently unharmed. "How did you do that? You were all the way over there."

Jack picked up his sunglasses and gave him a slight smile. "Just lucky I guess," he answered with a shrug.

This whole incident caused quite a ruckus and the ceremony was scrapped because the president would need to be made aware of the fact that there was a leak. General Hammond, Sam and Jack returned to the SGC where the General would presented them with their medals. On the plane ride back Jack talked to Sam about how he'd seen her father's bad health. She confirmed that he had lymphoma.

At the base the ceremony was about to start, sadly this was interrupted by a subspace message from Abydos, a Cheops class ship had landed. Which meant Heru'ur as the only one except for Ra to use this type of ship had landed on Abydos.

Abydos was important both personally and strategically as currently earth's only source of naquadah. As a result SG teams 1 through 5 would go to confront Heru'ur, along with the medically oriented SG-8 which would follow after the all clear was given in case of wounded.

Jack and Sam would go first with the protection of personal shields. Jack using the ribbon device he'd recovered from Apophis. While Sam would use the one recovered from Cimmeria. Jack had been teaching her in its uses. That combined with memories from Jolinar made it reasonably safe for her to at least use the device's shield without the chance of accidental misfires.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

Earlier on Abydos.

Daniel and Sha're were driving across the Abydonian desert on a utility ATV along with a marine that was doing the actual driving when they saw a ship identical to the one used by Ra land on the pyramid. They quickly changed direction and headed for the Caves of Kaleemah, the marine notifying his superior with his radio. The caves was where the SGC had set up the mining base because it was roughly halfway between the pyramid and the mining site along with one of the few places where the bedrock reached the surface.

At the mining base Colonel Martin Edwards received the radio message and used the subspace communication system to notify earth of the current situation.

Martin was a recent addition to the Stargate Program and got this command thanks to his past as a combat engineer.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

Jack and Sam stepped through the gate and were confronted by the rings coming down from the ceiling on the other side. When they retracted four Horus guards were standing in their place. Jack decided that he wouldn't let them start shooting especially with all the SGC personnel that would be coming through the gate any second now.

Jack jumped the ten meters from the gate and landed in their midst, changing his hands to claws and taking advantage of the advantage that they couldn't fire this close but he could easily stab them even with their attempts to use their staff weapons as clubs.

Sam quickly turned off her shield and started firing while going for cover. By the time SG-2 walked through the gate they saw Jack surrounded by three wounded jaffa and one dead one lying in a rather large puddle of blood.

"Ferreti shoot them. I've still got the shield up," Jack quickly ordered.

SG-2 quickly complied and opened fire on the jaffa. With the firepower from the troops that followed them being added as soon as they stepped through the gate. In less than ten seconds the last jaffa fell.

After the last one fell the SG teams spread out and took cover behind the columns while pointing their weapons at the area where the rings came down.

Before all of them were in position the rings brought down another group. When the rings retracted back into the ceiling it was shown to be Heru'ur along with another four jaffa. These were quickly mowed down by the large number of bullets fired by the tau'ri. Only Heru'ur remained unharmed thanks to the quick activation of his personal shield.

Of course by now nearly everyone there knew the weakness of the personal shield, that it only stopped fast-moving of high energy projectiles. Even before the last jaffa fell a dozen knives were thrown at the Goa'uld. Most were stopped by his golden tinted Horus guard armor, except for the one hitting and piercing his hand and part of his ribbon device.

Heru'ur's face contracted in obvious pain. He quickly activated the ring transporter with his ribbon device and made his escape.

Jack picked up one of the fallen jaffa's staff weapon. Noticing the looks he was getting from Sam he quickly answered, "the tip extends beyond the shield allowing me to fire back." Raising his voice Jack quickly started to give commands, "okay, people. Carter, SG-2 you're with me in the first wave. Once we've cleared the ring room I'll activate the rings every ten seconds until you're all on the ship. Stay close and keep your eyes open," Jack commanded before turning to Sam and SG-2. "We can't let Heru'ur take off. His sensors might have picked up on our mining activities. We also have no idea why he's here. Abydos is nowhere near his domain. Now as soon as we arrive in the ring room I want you duck down and head for the walls, Carter and will cover the door with our shields while you fire around us."

A bright flash later Jack, Sam and SG-2 rematerialized in an alcove on the Cheops class ship. The single jaffa guarding it opened fire with his staff weapon which would have hit Sam in face if it wasn't for her shield. Jack quickly took him out by firing back with his staff.

A few minutes later the other three teams were onboard with the last team reporting that the ship was starting to take off.

The four SG teams and the two members of SG-1 quickly moved through the gold plated hallways, shooting several Horus guars along the way and only getting stopped in minor firefights where they used their shields to their advantage. While their shields could only take roughly four minutes of constant attack before failing this time limit was never reached thanks to the backup from the four SG teams.

As soon as they reached the pel'tak or bridge of the ship the teams saw the dark image of space through the forcefield that served as the front window and the HUD (heads up display). Jack also noticed blood on the control console. Most likely from Heru'ur's injured hand. In the hallways the sound of boots marching in their direction could be heard. "Ok, everybody inside the bridge," Jack ordered while putting his hand on the console.

"What are you doing Sir?" Sam asked.

There was a whooshing sound after which the sound of boots swiftly stopped. Jack's face took on a sad expression before becoming more neutral. "I just vented the atmosphere from the ship, Carter. Every jaffa and most likely Heru'ur will be dead in about 90 seconds.

As soon as Jack finished his explanation the console made a bleeping sound which drew his attention. "Ok, this isn't good someone just opened the bay doors. A tel'tak or cargo ship became visible through the force field right before it took off and entered hyperspace.

"Dam it. We won't know if that was Heru'ur until I repressurize the compartments, but it's a safe assumption," Jack said in a clearly annoyed tone. A smile suddenly appeared on his face. "I dub thee Enterprise."

"Sir, you can't name this ship the Enterprise," Sam exclaimed while the SG teams laughed behind them.

"Why not. It's a good name for a ship and seeing as we captured it we should be allowed to name it."

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

15 minutes later the ship was once again parked on top of Abydos' great pyramid. The first task would be healing the wounded, the few there were while the rest cleared the ship of bodies. Meanwhile Sam with Jack after he finished with using the healing devise would go through the ship's computer and any found tablets to look for the reason of Heru'ur's coming to Abydos.

One SG team member would have to stay on the ship at all times until Jack could copy the remote used by the ribbon devices. The innate problem with the ring platform remote control was that it would activate the nearest ring platform, which would then connect to the platform nearest to it. Meaning that the interface didn't control which ring platform you would get sent to.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

As soon as Jack was back at the SGC he ordered his cells in bathtub one to make the remote ring controller. During which he also started to write up his report through the interface.

10 minutes later he was the after mission debriefing along with Sam and the heads of the other teams involved.

"So colonel if I understand it correctly we now have a Goa'uld mother ship," General Hammond stated.

"Yes, we do, sir. Although I would stress that it's a met'tak or Cheops Class and not a ha'tak class," Jack said with a happy smile.

"Could you give us a rundown Colonel?"

Sure sir. Guardian would you show relevant pictures while I explain," Jack asked the AI.

"Yes Jack," answered Guardian while the lights slightly dimmed and the small holographic projector in the center of the table started showing the Cheops class.

"Okay I'll start with comparing it to the ships more commonly used by the Goa'uld to give you an idea. If a ha'tak was a tank the Cheops class would be an armored personnel carrier or armored command vehicle. The ship is the usual pyramid shape. Its 300 meters by 300 meters and is 292 meters tall, which is lightly smaller than half of a ha'tak. Neither does it have the scaffolding superstructure of a ha'tak. The engines, shields and sensors on the other hand are mostly equal to that of a ha'tak. The only weapons are near the base of the ship and are made up of 40 medium staff cannons, 10 facing each direction. These are usually used against fighters and would take a very long time to damage a ha'tak. As for fighters, the ship carries a single wing of 12 death gliders and can hold 2 tel'taks of which one is gone or 1 al'kesh. Apart from the that landing bay the internal structure consists of various rooms and spaces. Going from bottom to the top we first have the landing clamps at the bottom which clamp onto a Cheops size pyramid in sandy or uneven ground conditions. If one of these aren't available the clamps will also help the ship land on a mountain or hill of acceptable dimensions," as Jack went through the specs of the ship areas of the ship were highlighted and enhanced by Guardian.

"Now above the clamps we have the water tanks, which are crucial for the staff cannons. While it might seem like staff weapons in general have no need for ammo this only applies within an atmosphere. To form plasma you need either a gas or liquid that is heated to levels high enough to create plasma. The Goa'uld usually use water as they need it on their ships anyway. But in theory other gasses or liquids could be used but these come with their own problems and advantages, which I'm not going into right now," Jack paused a moment to make sure there were no questions.

"Colonel I was under the impression the staff weapons only required energy to function," General Hammond asked puzzled.

"Yes they do, sir. When staff weapons are activated in atmosphere yellow sparks move over the tip of the activated weapon. This is actually a small force field that encloses a pocket of air that when the weapons is fired is superheated to the point of forming plasma, which by the way is between 1800 and 2000 degrees Kelvin. In space there is no atmosphere from which to take gas to form plasma there's just not enough material. So the Goa'uld use water instead which is heated to a temperature of 12000 degrees Kelvin to make weapons-grade plasma," Jack explained while everyone started staring at him. 'I should have just let Carter handle that question," Jack thought. Seeing General Hammond's nodding he continued.

"Moving on above the water tanks are the staff weapon batteries along with the shield generator, naquadah power generator and the engines spread over several levels. Above that are the landing bay, small cargo rooms and the quarters for the slaves and jaffa on board. The top level is completely devoted to the Goa'uld in charge. Most of the room is taken up by the main throne, Heru'ur's personal quarters, the sarcophagus room and the pel'tak," Jack finished.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

After the debriefing Jack finished up his work on his latest project. He'd started working on it after they finished with the mining equipment. The production of the sensors and the shield generators was an automated process happening continuously in the bathtubs as long as the required elements were added. So between working on the computers and giving Sam lessons in how to use a ribbon device Jack had been working on the next generation MALP and UAV.

While the MALPs should remain easy and cheap to build the new ones would have better sensors, power and a long range subspace communication transmitter so that the gate would not need to be kept open to receive telemetry.

The UAVs were another matter. Seeing as these were never the first to be sent and their main goal was always to explore greater areas surrounding the gate they could be afforded greater resources to be built. The first step was ditching the airplane design and the rockets and to simply use a sphere shape with a modified inertial/anti-gravity engine normally used to keep long range visual communication devices in the air. After this came extensive sensors and a similar long range subspace communication transmitter as used on the MALPs. All that was left was a heavy liquid naquadah power cell. The first one Jack had made was intended for the prototype UAV.

Eventually there would be two kinds of MALPs the smaller 1 meter diameter ones meant for low altitude reconnaissance of a maximum 10 kilometers.

The second would be a satellite version with a diameter of 3 meters that could be sent into orbit of a planet to take detailed scans and would have long range sensors to detect approaching ships and a larger power cell.

The next day would be the first test of the prototype. They would use it for their mission to the planet who's address they had gotten from Jolinar's memories.

[Xander Harris the Other Prototype]

AN2: I'm still not sure about the name "Guardian" for the SGC base's AI. I originally got the idea from an old B-movie that would have been on the big screen when Jack was 18 years old. There it was the name of a Soviet AI. If you've got better suggestions let them be known or I'll stick with Guardian.

For those of you who hate or dislike the fact that the SGC captured a ship, remember it's not a giant mothership. Its less than half the size of a ha'tak.

And lastly the name Cheops Class is according to canon. The name met'tak comes from the Egyptian word met= pyramid and the Goa'uld tak= ship.


End file.
